An American woman’s ill-fated encounter with a wombat joey has sparked uproar Down Under, sending her fleeing to Thailand in the wake of a furious Aussie backlash. An Australian influencer called out the American on TikTok labelling her a “pig,” “narcissist” and a “terrible woman” after she posted a video of her snatching the joey from its distressed mother. The backlash from the video caused her to flee to Thailand.
Samantha Strable has become the unintended villain of an international incident, after a now-deleted video of her snatching a wombat joey from its distressed mother went viral. The clip shows her boyfriend, sheep shearer Louis Sixt, apparently laughing off the mother’s frantic chase, capturing it all with glee. The duo has since disappeared to Thailand, hoping to dodge the digital debacle.
The outrage began when popular Melbourne influencer Anthony Voulgaris took to TikTok to condemn the 24-year-old’s actions in front of his half a million followers. “I’m all for making mistakes. Everyone needs to learn. But this isn’t a mistake. You’re being a terrible person because you saw the mum and the baby struggling in distress,” he said.
Voulgaris was livid about the laughing duo, dubbing them “absolute pigs” and suggesting they should have had the wisdom of his 11-year-old self, according to reports from The Daily Mail. “When I was a child, I picked up a duckling, saw the distress, and put it down. I felt guilty for a month, knowing I could have risked the mum rejecting it. Note to self, don’t be a narcissist,” he fervently urged Strable to “never come back to Australia again” and to “keep her hands off our wildlife.”
The influencer’s video struck a chord with thousands, gathering over 8,000 supportive comments. One Aussie viewer commented, “Seeing the mummy wombat waddle after her in distress is seared into my brain. It makes me so mad I want to cry.” Yet, not everyone was gunning for Strable. A more tempered voice emerged in the comment section, noting, “Yes, the wombat should never have been treated that way. But the level of threats and hate towards her is excessive. This is bad, but cows experience this daily in the dairy meat industry. Their babies are taken too.”
Despite the uproar, Samantha Strable stands by her actions, insisting she did the joey no harm. In a series of online posts, she defended her intentions and shared that the joey was only held for a minute. “For everyone worried, the baby was carefully held for one minute and then released back to mum. They wandered back into the bush unharmed,” she claimed.
Strable initially quit social media, overwhelmed by the barrage of online attacks which left her feeling unsafe and even suicidal. “I didn’t think I could catch it, and I wanted a chance to appreciate an incredible animal up close. I never capture wildlife to harm it,” she stressed.
As the digital dust-up continues, some are calling for perspective, urging netizens to focus on broader issues rather than a single individual’s actions. As the debate rages on, one thing is clear: when it comes to wildlife, Aussies won’t let sleeping wombats lie.
An American influencer who made headlines after snatching a baby wombat in Australia has sent a vindictive message to a friend she made in the country. Samantha Strable, known as Sam Jones on social media, sparked fury online after sharing a video of herself grabbing the joey, distressing both the baby and its mother.
Strable, 24, who was believed to have returned to the United States, is now revealed to be staying in Thailand with her sheep shearer and hunting specialist Australian boyfriend, Louis Sixt. A former friend of the influencer stated that they believed Strable was in Thailand after the messages she sent them.
“On my flight to Thailand today, guess what I saw?” she wrote to her friend. “A bunch of old, bald Aussie dudes flying to Thailand.” In a subsequent message, Strable expressed her indignation, saying, “The public is not going to scrutinize them for going abroad to have s-x with children, but I’m the POS [piece of s].”
The former friend also shared abusive and threatening text messages Strable sent them, vowing to make their life hell after she accused them of speaking to the media about the wombat incident. “Just wanted to send you a personal F YOU, from me to you F*** YOU,” Strable wrote in her message. She also expressed disdain, stating, “While you barely scrape by, I’ll go enjoy it all. Buy that daughter of yours the food, life, and Up&Gos she DESERVES and stop wasting it on boat fuel,” she added.
Strable’s former friend revealed that she has shown no remorse for her actions regarding the wombat. “She still has no remorse for her actions,” they noted. “She claims it’s just a media beat-up for her being ‘a yank’,” they added.
Furthermore, in new details of the story, Strable’s former company, Bowman, announced that she is no longer an employee, condemning her behavior following the viral video. A company spokesman commented, “Ms Strable is NOT employed by Bowman as an Environmental Scientist or in any other capacity.” They clarified that the video of Ms Strable with a baby wombat was recorded following her brief time with the company and emphasized their dedication to wildlife conservation.
As the uproar continues online and Strable’s former messages come to light, the influencer’s actions have sparked vast discussions about wildlife conservation and humanity’s role in respecting nature. Her shocking behavior, coupled with her indignant responses, raise important questions about accountability in the age of social media.
