An American influencer has drawn criticism from animal welfare advocates after posting footage of herself capturing a wild baby wombat and holding it for the camera.
Sam Jones, who describes herself on social media as a "wildlife biologist and environmental scientist", shared the video in a since-deleted Instagram reel.
It shows Ms Jones catching the joey on the side of an unidentified road and carrying it to a car, while a man laughs as he films.
Another wombat the pair identifies as the joey's mother is seen chasing after the baby and hanging around the car while the joey hisses and screeches.
After a few moments, Ms Jones lets go of the baby, but the filming cuts out before it is known whether the animals are reunited.
A caption that originally accompanied the clip indicated they were. "Baby and mom slowly waddled back off together into the bush," it said.
WIRES wildlife veterinarian Tania Bishop says the fundamental issue with this incident was the potential for severe distress being caused to both the mother and joey.
Sam Jones, who describes herself on social media as a "wildlife biologist and environmental scientist", shared the video in a since-deleted Instagram reel.
It shows Ms Jones catching the joey on the side of an unidentified road and carrying it to a car, while a man laughs as he films.
Another wombat the pair identifies as the joey's mother is seen chasing after the baby and hanging around the car while the joey hisses and screeches.
After a few moments, Ms Jones lets go of the baby, but the filming cuts out before it is known whether the animals are reunited.
A caption that originally accompanied the clip indicated they were. "Baby and mom slowly waddled back off together into the bush," it said.
WIRES wildlife veterinarian Tania Bishop says the fundamental issue with this incident was the potential for severe distress being caused to both the mother and joey.
Category
🗞
News