The US influencer who sparked rage when torn a wild baby wombat from a mother suffering for social media videos has reviewed her visa by the Australian government.
Australia's immigration minister Tony Burke said the department is reviewing a video of Samantha Jones, also known as @samstrays_somewhere on Instagram. It has been reported.
“The department is currently working through current visa conditions to determine whether immigration law has been violated,” Burke said in a statement Thursday.
Burke said the level of “scrutiny” Jones faced in the video might be enough to prevent her from returning to the land below.
“Anyway, given the level of scrutiny that happens if she applies for a visa again, I am amazed if she bothers me,” the upset immigration minister said.
“We can't wait for Australia to see the behind the scenes of this individual. I don't think she'll come back.”
In a now-deleted video that she posted to more than 92,000 followers on Instagram, Jones snatched a baby wombat on the side of the road in the middle of the night while hearing the man filming her laugh.
As she runs towards the camera carrying an unprotected wombat, her legs hang freely, and the mother jumps into vision to chase the baby.
“Look at your mother, it's chasing her!” The man says he's laughing hysterically.
The video is then cut to her holding a baby Wombat, screaming in fear.
“Now, mommy is right there and she's mad. Let's let him go,” she said before the video ended.
In the caption of the video, Jones wrote, “The baby and mom were united safely.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong called out hunting influencers for her cruel video.
“That looked pretty scary, right? I'll leave you with that question [about whether the influencer should be deported] To Tony Burke and the authorities, but in reality, leave the wombat alone,” Wong said.
“You'd think you'd have thought you'd seen it before, but leave your baby wombat alone. Leave it with your mother.”
an Online petition As of Thursday, seeking deportation from Australia had received more than 13,000 signatures.
It is unclear whether Jones fled the country following the backlash from the video.
But while influencers may have believed it was a harmless stunt for the video, the Wire from the Australian Wildlife Rescue Agency said the law was illegal, news.com.au reported.
Wire Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Tania Bishop told the news outlet that the baby wombat saw at about eight months, and at an age where it “always” depends on the mother for protection.
“You can see Joey swinging, but it also has a hissing. It's a sign of extreme pain,” Bishop said.
“We also see the extreme pain of her mother and chase her across the road.”
Penalties for animal cruelty crimes vary by state in Australia. Some fines amount to $14,000 for individuals and $157,00 for businesses. The crime can also be sentenced to a potential prison sentence of seven years. RSPCA.
The Montana-based influencer then made public Instagram and Tiktok accounts private following the backlash.
According to news.com.au, Jones, who claims to be a “wildlife biologist and environmental scientist,” addressed a backlash in Instagram comments before deleting the video.
“For all those worried and unhappy, the baby was held carefully for a total of one minute, then released to the mother. They roamed back into the bushes completely unharmed,” she wrote.
“I didn't think I could catch it in the first place, so I had the opportunity to see some truly incredible animals nearby. I don't catch any wildlife that would hurt me by doing so.”
With post wire
