Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is the latest to criticise a US influencer whose video of her taking a wild baby wombat away from its distressed mother has angered conservationists.<\/p>\n
Albanese suggested that the woman, Sam Jones, tries doing so with animals that “can actually fight back”: “Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there.”<\/p>\n
Ms Jones, who calls herself an “outdoor enthusiast and hunter”, was filmed picking up the joey by the road and running across it to a car, while its mother ran after them.<\/p>\n
The man filming can be heard laughing: “Look at the mother, it’s chasing after her!” The video, which was filmed in Australia, has since been deleted.<\/p>\n
Immigration officials are reviewing Ms Jones’s visa, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the BBC, following calls for her to be deported.<\/p>\n
An online petition supporting Ms Jones’s deportation has received 10,500 signatures so far.<\/p>\n
“Given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I’ll be surprised if she even bothers,” Burke said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Ms Jones’s “appalling” behaviour could have caused severe harm to the wombats, conservationists say.<\/p>\n