A US hunting influencer who caused outrage in Australia after grabbing a baby wombat from its mother says she is sorry for the incident but was only trying to ensure its safety by removing it from a road.
Sam Jones left the country on Friday morning after the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said immigration authorities were checking if she had breached the conditions of her visa.
Early on Saturday morning, she posted a 900-word statement on her Instagram account, claiming she had been subject to thousands of death threats, and questioning the outrage in a country whose government “allows and permits the slaughter of wombats”.
It is an offence to harm a wombat in Australia unless a permit is obtained from the government.
She also railed against the killing of kangaroos and brumbies.
Jones said she was “extremely concerned” when she found the wombats on the road, and stopped to ensure they were not hit by a car.
When she walked up to the baby and it did not move, she thought it may have been sick or injured, so decided to pick up the wombat to check.
“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.
“While I was unbelievably excited to see such an amazing animal, I looked it over quickly and immediately returned it to its mother. I ensured that the mother and joey did reunite, went off together, and that they got off the road.
“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 … I have learned from this situation, and am truly sorry for the distress I have caused.”
She insisted that the incident had not simply been confected for content.
“I want to make it absolutely clear that this was never about social media or getting likes.
“This was not staged, nor was it done for entertainment. In my excitement and concern, I acted too quickly and then failed to provide necessary context to viewers online.”
Burke, who is also the immigration minister, said on Thursday that he couldn’t “wait to see the back of this individual” and authorities were “working through the conditions” on Jones’s visa to determine “whether immigration law has been breached”.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Jones’s actions were “an outrage” and suggested she should try to “take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there”.
RSCPA Australia said the footage showed a “blatant disregard” for native wildlife and the distress to the joey and the mother caused by the “callous act” was clear.