A screenshot from the now-deleted video that may cause a Montana influencer to lose her visa.
A Wyoming and Montana social media influence is under fire and threat of visa removal in Australia after a viral video showed her separating a wombat baby from its mother.
In the now deleted video, Samatha Strable, who said she grew up in Great Falls in a 2023 interview, picks up a baby wombat and runs with it down a road. Strable then released the wombat on the side of the road.
Wombats are a protected species in Australia and the incident quickly drew condemnation from government officials in the country. Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Sky News Australia that Strable, who goes by “Sam Jones” on Instagram and Threads, could be at risk of losing her visa.
“The department is now working through the conditions on her current visa and determining whether immigration law has been breached,” Burke told Sky News, adding, “I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of this individual.”
Strable appears to have been in Australia for more than a year, according to her Facebook page. A recent post also shows her with a bear cub and its mother, dressed in a National Park Service uniform. Strable’s Instagram and Threads profiles include “wildlife biologist” in her biography, though it’s unclear if she held such a position with the Park Service.
Strable, who was homeschooled in Great Falls and wrote pieces for the Tribune, is an avid hunter, posting as recently as February about hunting Axis deer. She was also at one time part of the Montana Game Wardens Charitable Trust Youth Hunter Program.
Strable did not immediately respond to a request for comment.