An American influencer who was filmed taking a baby wombat away from its distraught mother in Australia has said she is "really sorry" but has also received thousands of death threats for it.
Sam Jones, who calls herself an "outdoor enthusiast and hunter," was filmed getting out of her car and picking up a baby wombat - a marsupial animal - on the side of the road, right next to the forest, while her mother chased after them.
"I caught a baby wombat," Jones said in the video, as the baby hissed and struggled to free itself from her grip.
The man filming can be heard laughing and saying: "Look at the mother, she's chasing the baby!"
A comment below the now-deleted video read: "My dream of holding a wombat has come true! Baby and mom slowly made their way back to the bushes together."
The video sparked an avalanche of reactions, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese telling her to "try taking a baby crocodile from its mother and see what happens."
In a long post on the Instagram page, Jones wrote that she was trying to safely move the animals off the road.
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She wrote that, as seen in the video, the mother is trying to get off the road, but not her baby.
I went out not to take the baby away from its mother, but out of fear that she might attack it.
"In that most brutal decision I made, I never for a moment thought about hurting or stealing the baby," she added.
She also wrote that the video she posted was not made for fun.
In that excitement, I acted rashly and the footage did not provide the necessary context for viewers on the networks, she added.
In the post, the American influencer sharply criticized Australia's laws on the culling of animals, including wombats, kangaroos, horses, deer, and pigs.
Australia has various laws and regulations that cause controversy and divide the nation.
Wombats, which are native to Australia, are a legally protected species, but permits can be obtained to kill them if deemed necessary.
An online petition has been launched in Australia, signed by more than 40.000 people, demanding that the American influencer be deported from the country.
Home Secretary Tony Burke said his department was considering whether to revoke the Americans' visas.
However, the BBC has learned that she has already left Australia of her own accord.
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Jones, who also goes by the name Samantha Streble, has more than 95.000 followers on Instagram.
Conservationists have warned that the American woman's "appalling behavior" could seriously endanger wombats.
The Wombat Protection Society said it was shocked to see how the American woman misbehaved towards these marsupials and assessed that she "clearly just wanted to collect likes on social media."
"[She] then returned the vulnerable baby to the country road - potentially putting her at risk of being run over on the road," the statement said.
It is unclear whether the baby was then rejoined by its mother, they added.
"I held the baby carefully for a total of one minute, then released her to her mom," she wrote in the comments, responding to criticism.
"They wandered off into the bushes together, completely unharmed. I never film wild animals that will be harmed."
Animal rights organizations criticized Sam Jones.
One of the groups, Peta, described the video as "content that exploits wildlife" and called on people to "stop treating wild animals as props."
Watch the video: Preserve or kill crocodiles - a debate in Australia's capital of the largest reptiles
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