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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Graham Readfearn

Baby wombat-snatching US influencer at risk of losing Australian visa

A screenshot taken from the Instagram account ‘samstrays_somewhere’ shows American woman Sam Jones holding the wombat joey. Australia’s home affairs department is now investigating the video to see if Jones has breached her visa conditions.
A screenshot taken from the Instagram account ‘samstrays_somewhere’ shows American woman Sam Jones holding the wombat joey. Australia’s home affairs department is now investigating the video to see if Jones has breached her visa conditions. Photograph: Reddit/Instagram

A US hunting influencer who shared video of herself snatching a baby wombat away from its mother is being investigated for a potential breach of her Australian visa.

The footage, with scenes described as “callous” by the RSPCA and “pretty dreadful” by the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, showed the Montana-based influencer Sam Jones grabbing the wombat joey at night as it was walking with its mother.

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