Influencer who took baby wombat from mom leaves Australia after minister warned they'd deport her

Sam Jones, the American influencer who received widespread backlash after her controversial video of her grabbing a baby wombat from its mother went viral on social media, has reportedly left Australia. Following widespread outrage on the internet, Jones deleted the video and temporarily restricted access to her Instagram account. However, the BBC reported that although Tony Burke, Australia's Home Affairs Minister, confirmed an ongoing review into potential revocation of Jones' visa, she had departed the country.

"There has never been a better time to be a baby wombat," Burke said in an official statement after Jones' departure. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also criticized the American influencer and described the incident as an "outrage." As per the outlet, last week, opposition leader Peter Dutton also strongly criticized Jones and said he was glad that she had left Australia. Soon after Jones uploaded her now-deleted questionable video, an online petition demanding her to be deported from the country was launched. 

Meanwhile, the influencer and wildlife biologist took to her Instagram recently to break the silence on the entire baby wombat incident. As per her official statement, Jones shared that she found the baby wombat and her mother in the middle of the road, not moving at all. She was scared that they would eventually be hit by some vehicle and hence got down from her vehicle to ensure that the wombats got off the road safely. When Jones walked up to the wombats, the baby still didn't move, and hence she picked it up to see if it had been injured. "I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me. The snap judgment I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey," she shared in the post.

Further, Jones revealed that after analyzing the situation, she realized that she did not handle the incident in the best possible way. However, Jones had ensured that she reunited the wombats after briefly separating them. "Regardless, my only intent was to prevent these amazing animals from being hit and make sure the joey wasn't in need of immediate care. I have learned from this situation, and I am truly sorry for the distress I have caused," Jones confessed. Furthermore, the influencer revealed that the incident was not staged or done for social media for entertainment purposes. "I acted too quickly and then failed to provide the necessary context to viewers online," she concluded.

For the unversed, in the scandalous video, Jones was captured excitedly running across the road with the baby wombat in her arms. Simultaneously, a man who captured the whole incident could be heard hysterically laughing in the background. "Look at the mother! Oh, it's chasing after her," he said, raising the camera to share a glimpse of the mother wombat running after Jones for her baby. Joey was terrified by the unwanted human intervention and was seen shivering in her arms. "I got the baby wombat! Okay, Mom is right there, and she is pissed. Let's let him go," Jones said before placing the baby wombat back on the ground. Although the content creator had removed the video from her account, the clip was reposted by an individual (u/animalschasingcars) on Reddit.