This is a screenshot from the now-deleted video that may cause a Montana influencer to lose her visa to Australia. In the video, Samatha Strable grabbed the baby wombat on the side of the road, separating the protected species from its mother.
A Wyoming and Montana social media influencer 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.”
The Associated Press reported that Stable left Australia voluntarily on Friday.
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.
Daily Montanan, like the Idaho Capital Sun, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.