NATIONAL fears are mounting that a “disorientated” baby wombat will not reunite with its mum after it was kidnapped by an American influencer.
Disgraced Sam Jones, a self-described “outdoor enthusiast and hunter”, posted a video of herself online snatching the baby wombat- sparking outrage from Aussie citizens and politicians.
3
3
3
It now appears that the small wombat was suffering from an illness, and needs to reunite with its mum before it is too late.
Yolandi Vermaak, founder of animal care charity Wombat Rescue, said separating the baby animal from its mum created a significant risk the parent would later reject her offspring.
The worried expert said: “My biggest concern is that we didn’t actually see mum and baby getting reunited.
“When she put it down, it looked disorientated.
“It was turned away from where the mother was last seen, so we don’t know if mum and baby actually found each other again.”
The video, which is now deleted, was posted to the influencer’s Instagram account with nearly 100,000 followers.
Also claiming to be a “wildlife biologist” and “environmental scientist”, the hunting influencer can be heard in the video proudly claiming: “I caught a baby wombat!”
Wildlife experts – as well as the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other cabinet members – have slammed her behaviour.
The charity owner said Jones should inform people of the location she left the wombat in – especially since the video also showed that the cute creature suffered from a disease.
Vermaak claimed that the joey had a skin disease called mange.
“The baby has mange and it’s a matter of time before it dies of mange, so it’s important for us to find where this happened and to get this baby and its mum treated as soon as possible,” she added.
Who is Sam Jones?
Sam Jones, from Montana, U.S., is a hunting influencer with nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram.
She describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast” and a “hunter”.
The star has since deleted her controversial post and made her account private.
She also claims to be a “wildlife biologist” and “environmental scientist” with an MSc degree.
She has since deleted her TikTok account and made her Instagram private.
A new account which claims to be Jones was set up, and it said she was “really sorry about the wombat incident” and that it was a “mistake”.
And on Thursday, the account posted another message saying that the “hate was too much for me to handle”.
The account added: “You guys are insane. I get hundreds of death threats for picking up an animal. WT*? Imagine someone just goes up to your child and curses at them? Let’s have some respect.”
National outrage at Jone’s actions has circulated online, causing the social media star to delete her TikTok and set her Instagram to private mode.
Aussie PM Anthony Albanese dared the woman to “try taking a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there” whilst blasting her behaviour as “just an outrage”.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke also said he could not wait to see the woman to be brought to justice, exclaiming: “There’s never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia.”
