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Sam Strable, who goes by Sam Jones online and describes herself as an ‘outdoor enthusiast & hunter,’ was booked into the county jail in Sublette on November 21, according to local media
Mike BediganThursday 27 November 2025 19:31 GMT
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A U.S. influencer who posted a video of herself snatching a baby wombat from its mother in Australia earlier this year has been arrested in Wyoming.
Sam Strable, who goes by Sam Jones online and describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast & hunter,” was booked into the county jail in Sublette on November 21, according to local media.
Earlier this year, the 25-year-old’s Australian visa was placed under immediate review by the country’s government after the video went viral and caused outrage. Strable later shut down her social media accounts due to the backlash.
She has now been accused of falsely declaring she lived in Wyoming to obtain several state resident hunting licenses, according to court documents.
Strable has been charged with eight misdemeanours, including six counts of false swearing and one count each of taking wildlife without a license. In addition, she has been charged with nonresident hunting without a guide in a wilderness area.
open image in gallerySam Strabel, a U.S. influencer who posted a video of herself snatching a baby wombat from its mother in Australia earlier this year has been arrested in Wyoming (Sublette County Sheriff's Office)Court records indicate that she was, in fact, listed as living in Great Falls, Montana.
According to Wyoming laws, an individual must live in the Cowboy State for a full calendar year before they can apply for a resident hunting license. Non-residents may not hunt in the wilderness areas of Wyoming without a guide.
Strable’s notoriety skyrocketed back in March of this year following her Instagram video.
In it, she is seen lifting the wombat joey by its front legs in the darkness from a roadside, then running away from its mother. “I caught a baby wombat,” she said as a man filming her laughed. She returns the wombat to the roadside after several seconds.
The backlash forced Strabel to close her social media channels, with Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke telling the press her visa was under review.
“The department is now working through the conditions on her current visa and determining whether immigration law has been breached,” Burke said in a statement received by The Associated Press at the time.
“I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don’t expect she will return,” he added.
open image in galleryIn the viral video Strable was seen lifting the wombat joey by its front legs in darkness from a roadside then runs away from its mother. ‘I caught a baby wombat,’ she said as a man filming her laughs. She returns the wombat to the roadside after several seconds (AAP IMAGE)Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also criticized Strable’s actions. “To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage,” Albanese told reporters.
“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. Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother,” Albanese added.
The wombat appeared to be common, also known as a bare-nosed wombat. It is a protected marsupial found only in Australia.
Yolandi Vermaak, founder of the animal care charity Wombat Rescue, said separating the young wombat from its mother created a risk that the mother would reject her offspring.
“My biggest concern is that we didn’t actually see mom and baby getting reunited. When she put it down, it looked disoriented. It was turned away from where the mother was last seen. So we don’t know if mom and baby actually found each other again,” Vermaak told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
