US tourist under official investigation for her ‘heinous act’ with a baby wombat: ‘I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of her’

Australia’s Immigration Minister has blasted a US tourist for separating a baby wombat from its mother as an official investigation is launched into whether the hunting influencer has breached her visa and can be deported.

Tony Burke told Daily Mail Australia he ‘couldn’t wait’ for Australia to be rid of Samantha Jo Strable and that he doubted she would ever return to the country.       

‘The department is now working through the conditions on her current visa and determining whether immigration law has been breached,’ Mr Burke said.

‘Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I’ll be surprised if she even bothers.

‘I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don’t expect she will return.’   

His comments come after Ms Strable shared a since-deleted video of her interaction with a baby wombat to her Instagram page on Tuesday. 

Ms Strable, a self-described ‘wildlife biologist and environmental scientist’, captured the juvenile wombat from the side of an unidentified road. 

The footage showed Ms Strable running towards a car with the joey swinging in her arms as an Australian man laughed as he filmed the scene. 

‘I caught a baby wombat,’ Ms Strable said as the joey shrieked and wiggled trying to free itself from her grasp as its mother ran over. 

‘Okay, mum is right there and she is pissed.

‘Let’s let him go.’

The man replied: ‘Nah, he’s all right.’ 

Seconds later, Ms Strable released the joey onto the side of the road where its mother was waiting.

The video quickly received a barrage of backlash, with many viewers reporting the video under ‘animal abuse’. 

Ms Strable initially defended her actions, claiming she did not harm the joey and only held it for one minute. 

‘For everyone that’s worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum,’ she wrote.

‘They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed. I didn’t think I would be able to catch it in the first place, and took an opportunity to appreciate a really incredible animal up close. 

‘I don’t ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so.’

The influencer has switched her accounts to private but public outcry has continued after the video was uploaded to TikTok and Reddit. 

‘As a wildlife rescuer specialising in wombats I can tell you… that this is an absolutely terrifying experience for mum and joey,’ one person wrote. 

‘It’s not just the entitlement, it’s the disrespect. To greedily exploit the moment for personal gain no matter the trauma it causes to anything and anyone else, it’s such an indictment on her character. Absolutely shameful,’ a second said. 

‘Revolting, both her and the bloke with her. How the f**k they think that mum trying to get bubs back, and that baby screeching in terror, is funny and OK is absolutely beyond me. Soulless, gutless, heartless stuff,’ a third chimed in. 

Others called on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to deport Ms Strable to her home state of Montana.

‘This is heinous and they should both be charged,’ one person wrote. 

‘Please report her to Australian Department of Home Affairs so they can ban her from ever stepping foot in Australia again,’ a second person commented. 

A third added: ‘Hope she gets the maximum punishment for f***ing with wildlife’, while a fourth chimed in: ‘Arrest. Fine. Deport. Ban.’ 

Ms Strable’s online presence is largely populated with images of her posing with animal carcasses she claims to have hunted.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Strable for comment.