American hunting influencer Samantha Stable, also known as Sam Jones — who went viral for picking up a wild baby wombat and taking it away from its mother — is attempting to call out the “hypocrisy” of Australian media after she was widely condemned for her actions.
Jones — who has since left the country — is now spending her time dragging Australian media for focusing on her downright dog act, rather than the broader issues facing our natural wildlife. And look, she’s not completely wrong, but she’s definitely not right.
In case you missed it, last week, Montana-based Jones shared a video of herself nabbing a baby wombat from the side of a road. The now-deleted video went viral, with folks from Australia and the world criticising Jones for her disrespectful treatment of the animal.
Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese commented on the act, calling her behaviour “appalling”.
“Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there,” he said.
Plus, it is worth noting that it is an offence to harm a wombat in Australia unless a permit is obtained from the government.
Although Jones shared somewhat of an apology (which we’ll unpack below if you haven’t seen it), Jones has also since spoken out against the media for its reporting on the situation, condemning outlets for focusing on her actions rather than the larger wildlife issues at play. Despite outwardly condemning the culling practices in her original statement, she later shared on Instagram Stories that she is not against culling.
“No, I am not against warranted cullings. I’m against the hypocrisy,” she wrote.
“The hypocrisy of GLOBAL news slander about me picking up a wombat while using me as their clickbait. Yet not caring that this happens whatsoever.”
Jones claims that the story of a disgraced influencer sells while “wildlife issues do not”, and this “should concern you”.
“I don’t deserve this attention; bigger issues do. But please, let’s keep going,” she wrote.
Jones went on to discuss Australia’s habitat being destroyed for profit by sharing links to three articles in which a McDonald’s, a Toyota Dealership and a hospital were being built on the endangered koala habitat on the Gold Coast.
Is Jones right about the culling practices in Australia?
In some ways, Jones is correct. Culling is a controversial practice undertaken throughout Australia.
In Kosciusko National Park, the controversial practice of the aerial culling of feral horses was authorised by the NSW Government in October 2023. This was to minimise the environmental impact that the introduced species has on the landscape and vulnerable species in the area with the hopes of bringing brumby numbers down from 17,000 to 3000 by June 2027.
In fact, according to the Invasive Species Council, aerial culling was a recommended method to maintain appropriate population numbers.
“The strong cross-party support from Labor, Liberals, Greens and independents for effective control, including through aerial shooting, reflects the strong public support for action to protect our wildlife and streams from being trashed, trampled and polluted by feral horses,” Invasive Species Council Advocacy Director Jack Gough said in November, 2024.
Meanwhile, despite kangaroos being native to Australia and protected under the Biodiversity Conservation Act, the high numbers of kangaroos can have adverse impacts on the ecosystem and on public safety. As a result, state governments issue specific licences to kill kangaroos if other non-lethal control methods are not as effective. There is also a strict code of practice for the humane shooting of animals.
However, its worth noting that not everyone supports culling practices in Australia. Animals Australia, along with many animal rights groups like PETA, have condemned the practice of kangaroo culling, citing reasons of hidden cruelty and alleging that the statistics used by the government are “completely unreliable”.
How about the construction on the endangered wombat habitat?
Taking to Instagram Stories, Jones outlined that many Australian animals, like koalas, were losing their habitat to suburban expansion by sharing three articles related to construction in 2023.
“A new McDonald’s, Toyota dealership, and hospital all being built on endangered koala habitat on the Gold Coast,” she wrote.
“Habitat being destroyed for profit. How many of you know about that? How many of you care?”
Arguably, she’s correct. In Australia — and all over the world — habitat destruction is a critical issue wildlife is facing globally. From urbanisation to agricultural expansion and deforestation, animals are facing the brunt of cities expanding and populations growing.
According to WIRES, around seven million hectares of habitat crucial for the survival of threatened species have been destroyed in Australia over the last 20 years.
Although, while this is clearly an issue, it’s not a hidden one.
What did Jones say in her statement?
After her now-deleted video went viral, Jones took to Instagram to speak out about the incident in two lengthy posts. In one, Jones claimed that she was worried about the safety of the wombat joey, which was why she sought to move it away from its mother. In the other, she took aim at the Australian government for allowing the culling of other Australian animals, including wombats.
You can read her full statement below.
So, where does this leave us?
On one hand, it’s clear that Jones has a point. Animals are culled in Australia and are being put at risk due to habitat loss. However, it’s also clear that she lacks understanding of the issue at hand.
By moving a baby wombat away from its mother whilst filming it for social media, Australia collectively agreed she crossed a line. Although Jones made an attempt at an apology, she then went on to deflect and point the blame at a nuanced, controversial system which she doesn’t seem to understand.
The irony of having a hunter who admittedly hunts wild deer for food criticise the process of culling kangaroos and then selling the meat at local supermarkets is obvious. To use her turn of phrase, some would say it’s hypocrisy.
To be completely clear, I don’t think that Jones should ever have to cope with bullying or death threats. There is never, ever any excuse for this kind of behaviour. However, I do think she would have discovered that Australians can be quite forgiving when someone owns up to their shit — rather than chucking it back in our faces.
If you ask me, the real issue here isn’t that Australians are blind to our own faults. It’s that someone doesn’t really know how to apologise. I don’t think we’d still be talking about it if she did.
