An American influencer issued an apology on Friday after receiving main backlash from a since-deleted video that confirmed her taking a child wombat away from its mom, now claiming that she did so out of concern for the animal’s effectively being.
Sam Jones, who previously described herself as a “wildlife biologist and environmental scientist” to her tens of hundreds of followers on Instagram, shared a clip that confirmed her laughing and grabbing the screaming child wombat, or joey, working away because the child’s mom pursues her. She later brings the joey again to its mom.
“My dream of holding a wombat has been realised!” Jones reportedly captioned the video.
AP Photograph/Susan Montoya Bryan
The clip sparked widespread outrage, together with criticism from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who stated Jones ought to attempt to take a child away from an animal that “can actually fight back,” the BBC reported.
“Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there,” Albanese stated.
Australian officers had been even contemplating revoking her visa or banning her from the nation, however she has since left Australia voluntarily, the Related Press reported.
On Friday, Jones posted a press release on Instagram, saying that she and the one who shot the video had discovered the mom and joey “on a road, not moving.”
“I was extremely concerned. As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn’t get hit. However, as is seen from the video, when I walked up to them, the joey did not move or run off,” Jones wrote. “I was concerned it may have been sick or injured, and made snap judgement to pick up the joey and see if this was the case.”
She continued, “I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me. The snap judgement I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey.”
The influencer stated she “ensured that the mother and joey did reunite, went off together, and that they got off the road.”
Jones added that she “learned” from the state of affairs and is “truly sorry” for the misery she induced.
“I have done a great deal of reflection on this situation and have realized that I did not handle this situation as best as I should have.” Jones stated. “Regardless, my only intent was to prevent these amazing animals from being hit, and making sure the joey wasn’t in need of immediate care.”
In a separate publish that very same day, Jones requested her followers “Am I a villain?” and stated that hundreds of individuals had threatened her life over holding the wombat.
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She then deflected onto the Australian authorities for allowing “the slaughter of wombats,” an obvious reference to insurance policies that enable property homeowners to acquire licenses to kill the marsupials.
“While the prime minister wishes harm on me for picking up a wombat, I implore you to take a good, hard look at what is currently being done in Australia surrounding the real issues it faces, the lack of power for tens of thousands of Aussies, and the treatment of its native wildlife.” Jones wrote. “Then decide for yourself, if I, a person who certainly makes mistakes, am really your villain. ”
