An Instagram influencer left Australia after she was filmed scooping up a wild baby wombat and running off with the animal.

Sam Jones was recorded running away with the baby as the animal’s mother ran after her.

Australian news media said her name is Samantha Strable but posts under the Jones moniker. She claims to be a “wildlife biologist and environmental scientist.”

You can hear a man off camera laugh, “Just caught a baby wombat” and “Look at the mother, chasing after her.”

It isn’t known where or when the video was recorded, but CNN said it was a country road somewhere in southeastern Australia.

All animals in Australia are protected by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, meaning that picking up the wombat is illegal. Fines for animal cruelty can be up to $235,600 for individuals and a potential prison term.

Once the video went viral, there were calls for Jones/Strable to be deported from Australia and her visa was being reviewed by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and his department.

Before she was deported, she left the island nation voluntarily.

With Jones/Strable’s departure, Burke said “There’s never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was a bit harsher saying “I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there.”

The video has apparently been deleted and Jones/Strable’s Instagram account has been made private.

Wombats are marsupials that spend much of their time underground in burrows. They are about the size of a medium dog and have very sharp claws to be able to dig.

Their main food is grass, and since they’re herbivores they use their claws for digging.

But while they don’t normally attack humans, they could cause damage if they’re provoked. If their claws puncture the skin there could be “major damage and infection.”

“It’s not a situation you or any other member of the public should put yourself in for both the animals’ sake and your own sake. And broadcasting this on social media to get likes and hits and so forth as an influencer is totally counterproductive,” University of Tasmania ecologist Professor Barry Brook told CNN.

While the video doesn’t show if the baby was returned to its mother, Jones/Strable claimed it was “carefully held for one minute in total and then released back to mom.”

She said, “They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed. I don’t ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so.”

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