The controversial US influencer who sparked international outrage after snatching a baby wombat from its distressed mother has broken her silence, declaring she is no ‘villain’.
In a fiery three-part rant posted on her Instagram page, Samantha Strable, who fled Australia on Friday, claimed the reaction to her divisive video had been hypocritical.
The 24-year-old, who goes by the name Sam Jones online, claimed Australians were ‘blind’ to the fact ‘tens of millions of taxpayer dollars’ were spent slaughtering wombats and other native animals each year.
In contrast, the 24-year-old claimed she had actually been trying to save the baby wombat after spotting it ‘not moving’ by the side of a busy road.
‘Am I a villain? Things, dead reader, are not as they seem,’ she wrote.
‘Over holding a wombat, thousands threaten my life.
‘Let me be clear; these same people ought to understand the reality of Australia today.
‘For the readers that are so angered by my mistaken attempt to help and that I am a hunter – do not be blind to your country.’
Samantha Strable, 24, shared a since-deleted video to her Instagram account on Tuesday of her grabbing a wild wombat joey
Ms Strable claimed thousands of wombats were trapped and killed each year by Aussies and were seen as pests.
‘Why, might you ask, do they kill them? Well, to feed you,’ she continued.
‘The landowner is trying to survive, to raise you the lamb for your dinner table, the grapes for your wine, and the produce for your salads.
‘Wombats get in the way of this, through putting their holes and tunnels across the land, creating hazard for livestock, and turning up the ground to eat roots.
‘The wombat knows no better, as it too, is merely trying to survive.’
She claimed it was ‘hypocritical’ for Aussies to look down upon her given millions of kangaroos were ‘slaughtered’ each year for commercial purposes.
‘Millions are legally killed each year. Are they not deserved of government protection as native species?’ she said.
‘If you don’t believe me, take a look around the next time you go to Woolworths where you will see kangaroo flesh sold as both pet and human food.’
Ms Strable’s adventures included killing a wild pig with a knife in New Zealand
She also took aim at Anthony Albanese, who suggested she try picking up a baby crocodile or another animal who could ‘fight back’.
‘While the prime minister wishes harm on me for picking up a wombat, I implore you to take a good, hard, look at what is currently being done in Australia surrounding the real issues it faces, the lack of power for tens of thousands of Aussies, and the treatment of its native wildlife,’ Ms Strable continued.
‘Then, decide for yourself, if I, a person who certainly makes mistakes, am really your villain.’
Describing her now notorious encounter with the baby wombat, Ms Strable said she had made a ‘snap decision’ to try to save its life after finding it by the side of the road and fearing it was in danger.
‘When we found the mother and joey on a road, not moving, I was extremely concerned,’ she wrote.
‘As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn’t get hit.
‘However, as is seen from the video, when I walked up to them, the joey did not move or run off.
‘I was concerned it may have been sick or injured, and made a snap judgement to pick up the joey and see if this was the case. I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me.
Ms Strable fell in love with chasing game after doing a hunting mentor program
Ms Strable said she never intended to harm or steal the joey, and ensured the animal wasn’t injured before making sure it reunited with its mother.
‘I have done a great deal of reflection on this situation and have realised that I did not handle this situation as best as I should have,’ she said.
‘Regardless, my only intent was to prevent these amazing animals from being hit, and making sure the joey wasn’t in need of immediate care.
‘I have learned from this situation, and am truly sorry for the distress I have caused.’
Her post ended with the hunter insisting the video was not to get likes on social media.
‘This was not staged, nor was it done for entertainment. In my excitement and concern, I acted too quickly and then failed to provide necessary context to viewers online,’ she said.
Ms Strable’s almost-1000 word retort came within hours of her fleeing the country.
Government sources revealed on Friday she departed Australia and is understood to have flown back to the US.
Raised in Great Falls, Montana, she didn’t grow up around hunting – telling a Wyoming paper in 2023 that she initially thought the sport was ‘pretty gross’
‘There’s never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia,’ Immigration Minister Tony Burke told Daily Mail Australia on Friday.
The federal government began working to deport her after wildlife service WIRES said Ms Strable had violated Australia’s biosecurity and animal welfare laws, but she jumped before being pushed.
But despite being an avid wildlife hunter – posting multiple selfies with wild creatures she has killed – Ms Strable tried to get a job with animal rights group PETA.
They rejected her application after a background check discovered she was an ‘avid hunter and carnivore’.
A second controversial video of Ms Strable also resurfaced on Thursday, sparking further outrage.
The clip showed her handling an echidna, which appeared to be in the wild, and showing it off to her almost 100,000 followers last month.
Now her former boss in the US state of Wyoming has told Daily Mail Australia how he sacked her from his hunting tour company after just 30 days when he claimed he found out she misled him about her experience.
Bruce Lindsey, of Best of the West Outfitters, employed her in October 2021 as a ‘packer’ who helped clients on rocky mountain elk hunting trips in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
But despite being an avid wildlife hunter – posting multiple selfies with wild creatures she has killed – Ms Strable tried to get a job with animal rights group PETA
Mr Lindsey said the wombat furore surrounding his former employee ‘certainly doesn’t surprise me’.
He said he was forced to fire Ms Strable after just her first month on the job after it ‘became clear’ his fresh-faced worker wasn’t cut out for the tough job of leading a string of mules through the Yellowstone snows.
‘She just didn’t have the knowledge, didn’t have the experience, and we had to assist her greatly with her duties,’ he said, citing a catalogue of issues with her work.
She then ‘contacted the state and wrote a bunch of blogs (about the company) that caused issues’.
He added: ‘I don’t recall her being a ‘biologist’ at all.’
Despite admitting in a 2023 newspaper interview that she thought hunting was ‘pretty gross’ when she was a child, Ms Strable went on to fall in love with it.
She changed her mind after doing a hunting mentorship program when she shot a deer and then tasted some of the cooked tenderloin from her kill.
Raised in Great Falls, Montana, Ms Strable was born into a Christian family with four siblings, all of them home-schooled but high achievers.
American hunting influencer Sam Strable (pictured) was previously seen picking up a wild echidna
Samantha’s younger sister, Kimberly, stepped away from California Intercontinental University with a doctorate in Business Administration at just 17 years old.
By 2020, Ms Strable was basing herself in Pinedale, Wyoming, for seasonal work during the northern summers, and then flying to the southern hemisphere to hunt during the northern winters.
Her adventures included killing a wild pig with a knife in New Zealand and stalking red deer with a bow in Chile.
Two years later, Ms Strable applied for a job at the animal rights group PETA, according to the Hustead Law Firm based in Denver, Colorado.
She didn’t get the job and lodged a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau alleging age discrimination.
