The controversial hunting influencer Sam Jones is speaking out after garnering backlash for snatching a baby wombat from its mother. She took the animal to take a photo with it in a since deleted video.
Speaking out on her Instagram page, Jones criticized her haters, specifically calling out Australian politicians. She criticized Australian policies that allow hunters to kill and trap wombats.
She writes, "Am I a villain? Things, dear reader, are not as they seem. Over holding a wombat, thousands threaten my life. Let me be clear; these same people ought to understand the reality of Australia today. For the readers that are so angered by my mistaken attempt to help and that I am a hunter—do not be blind to your country."
She continued, "The Australian government allows and permits the slaughter of wombats. Thousands each year are shot, poisoned to suffer, and trapped legally. Landowners rip up wombat burrows with heavy machinery, poison them with fumigation, and shoot them whenever they can. Quietly, of course, so as not to face the wrath that has come upon me."
Hunting Influencer Put On Blast
The hunting influencer left the country after calls to have her deported over handing the wombat. She had to deal with a lot of backlash online from people.
She writes, "Why, might you ask, do they kill them? Well, to feed you. The landowner is trying to survive, to raise you the lamb for your dinner table, the grapes for your wine, and the produce for your salads. Wombats get in the way of this, through putting their holes and tunnels across the land, creating hazard for livestock, and turning up the ground to eat roots. The wombat knows no better, as it too, is merely trying to survive."
Following the video, The Wombat Protection Society of Australia were among those that put the hunting influencer on blast.
"We are expressing shock and concern over the actions of a tourist who mishandled a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for 'social media likes, '" the charity group also said. "The individual appeared to have no understanding of wombat behaviour or the severe stress caused by human interference and separation from its mother. She then placed the vulnerable baby back onto a country road - potentially putting it at risk of becoming roadkill. There is no clear evidence that the joey was successfully reunited with its mother."
