It’s wilder than a kangaroo on a trampoline! This American tourist, Sam Jones—she’s got like 95,600 Instagram followers, basically an influencer with a wombat obsession—caused a total meltdown in Australia.
She spots a baby wombat on the road, scoops it up like it’s a stray puppy, and bolts to her car with it, grinning like she just won the lottery. The video’s all over social media—she’s cackling, “I caught a baby wombat!” while the poor mama wombat’s chasing her, probably yelling, “Give me back my kid, you lunatic!”
Australians lost their minds—some were ready to deport her on the next shrimp boat, and even PM Anthony Albanese was like, “This is an outrage, mate!”
So, after the internet exploded, Sam dropped an apology on Friday like a hot potato. Posted it on her Insta—which she’d locked down faster than Fort Knox after the fiasco, and scrubbed clean of hundreds of posts.
She’s all, “I’m truly sorry for the chaos, guys, I swear I was worried about the little dude!” Claims she saw the mom and joey just chilling on the road, not moving, and thought, “Oh no, roadkill alert!”
Wombats apparently get flattened all the time Down Under, so she stopped to play hero. Says the joey looked dead, so she grabbed it in a “snap judgement”—then ran because she thought Mama Wombat might go full ninja on her. Spoiler: she gave it back right after, made sure they waddled off safely, and swears she’s learned her lesson.
Aussies weren’t buying it—they’re protective of their critters, even if these common wombats aren’t endangered.
Experts are like, “Yeah, they’re not rare, but hands off, lady—it’s the law!” The backlash was so intense, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was ready to yank her visa, but turns out Sam hightailed it out of the country on her own by Friday.
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