Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Comment
Georgie Purcell

Attacking a young tourist over her treatment of a wombat is hypocritical – and misses the point

woman with wombat
The actions of an American tourist taking a wombat joey away from its mother ‘have opened the door for us to confront the much larger and more urgent issue at hand’, says Georgie Purcell. Photograph: samstrays_somewhere/Instagram

We’ve all seen the distressing footage of an American influencer taking a wombat joey away from its mother. The joey hisses and stirs, while the distraught mother circles the woman until she eventually drops it back to the side of the road.

The tourist calls herself both a conservationist and an ecologist. But most of us can recognise that this is not the behaviour of someone who values our native wildlife.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.