American influencer films herself snatching a baby wombat from its mother — and outrage ensued

Imagine someone trying to separate you from your child. The thought itself is downright scary, right? But, as humans, we somehow often forget that just like us, animals also experience the same emotions and feelings. That's exactly what happened with Sam Jones. The American influencer found herself at the center of backlash when her video of grabbing a baby wombat from its mother went viral on social media. Following widespread outrage on the internet, Jones not only deleted her explosive video but also made her account private. However, the incident again came to light when an individual who goes by u/animalschasingcars on Reddit reposted the clip. 

In the controversial video, Jones excitedly ran across the road with the baby wombat in her arms, and another man, who was capturing the whole incident, could be heard hysterically laughing. "Look at the mother! Oh, it's chasing after her," he says, raising the camera to capture the mother wombat helplessly running after them for her baby. The baby wombat was petrified, as it was seen shivering in the influencer's arms, occasionally letting out a scared howl. "I got the baby wombat! Okay, Mom is right there, and she is pissed. Let's let him go," Jones spoke before placing the baby wombat back on the ground. 

Meanwhile, reacting to the questionable video, u/realistic_context936 commented, "Report her! The more people that do this, the more likely she will be punished. We can't all just comment and hope someone does it. Do it first thing in the morning! Crimestoppers is the place to contact!" Similarly, u/chriskicks wrote, "Oh my god! Why do people feel the need to just insert themselves in nature and desecrate it? Leave them be! This poor mother is trying to protect her young. Disgusting behavior." u/kitchen-storm-6895 revealed, "Not just a c*** act, but illegal. Not sure what state this was in, but here in Queensland, the Nature Conservation Act applies, and that is an out-and-out offense. Indictable, too. A few thousand worth of fines or up to a year's imprisonment based on what is in this video. I imagine it is similar elsewhere in the country. I recommend anyone who has further information about the person, state she was in, etc., send it to the relevant police service and Wildlife Service."

u/echidnastan commented, "Beyond distressing to see. Questioning whether she’s really a wildlife biologist as she claims on her profile because she’d know that this is illegal and cruel…though maybe she’s just that much of a c***. Hope she gets the maximum punishment for f****** with wildlife; unfortunately, we’re usually pretty weak when it comes to legally protecting wildlife, but we need to start going hard." On the other hand, u/nightIInight pointed out, "Absolute trailer trash. There's a high likelihood she's not even in the country anymore and just saved the video to post after her trip, but getting her blacklisted from ever visiting again would be a start. The fact she has 'Wildlife Biologist and Environmental Scientist' in her Instagram bio couldn't be more embarrassing."

u/stephie999666 commented, "I mean, she is f****** with a federally protected species and a critically endangered one at that. The government should come down on her like a ton of bricks with a $20,000 fine or jail time; either way, with a recorded conviction so she can't come back."