Ban sammystrays_somewhere from Australia for taking a baby wombat from its mother

Ban sammystrays_somewhere from Australia for taking a baby wombat from its mother

The issue

Samstrays_somewhere is a US hunting influencer who has gone viral for posting a tiktok of her taking a baby wombat away from its mother in the middle of the night as a joke...for a bit of fun. They can be seen laughing in the video as they have complete disregard and disrespect for Australia's adored wildlife. 

Samstrays_somewhere should be deported from the country immediately and banned from ever returning for this action. The Australian man she is with should also receive serious penalties for facilitating this behaviour.

Messing with Australia's beloved wildlife is not a joke. 

10newsfirst instagram video of the incident

r/Australia post of incident

NOTE: this is NOT a witch hunt and we do not support anyone taking matters into their own hands. This petition is to send a message to Australian politicians and legal officers to not let this case go. 

I have read about people reporting this to the police and the excuse has been "we don't know which state so we can't do anything about it". This is not good enough and needs to be elevated to the higher ranks of the police force and government with a proper investigation to be made. 

DO NOT TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS

Contact your politicians, contact the police, put pressure on the officials to take the appropriate and fair legal action needed.

Any illegal actions will not be tolerated. Please remain civil and stay within the scope of the law. The goal of this petition is to escalate the matter to the highest levels of power in the country. DO NOT attack, harass, threaten or in any way harm this woman. Do not interact with her. Contact the police and politicians.

----------------

On another note:

Please share the petition with your friends. A lot of social media website do not allow petitions to be shared in groups. The best way to get support from Aussies is through your networks. 

Yes the title is wrong, apologies, but I will not change it because it will break the shared link. I updated the name in the content.

---------------

Thank you to everyone for signing so far, please keep spreading the message until action is taken.

Here is a paragraph from a news.com.au article with a response from WIRES. (https://www.wires.org.au/

"All Australian animals are protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

WIRES has confirmed that this act is illegal.

Penalties for animal cruelty offences vary by state, with fines reaching as high as $235,600 for individuals and $250,000 for corporations, along with potential imprisonment of up to seven years.

WIRES Wildlife Vet Dr Tania Bishop told news.com.au that the wombat in the video is an at-foot joey, likely around eight months old, and completely dependent on its mother.

“It would be with the mum at all times, relying on her for protection,” she said.

Not only would it be distressing to be removed from its mother at such a young, dependent age, but the manner in which Ms Jones picked it up from the front of its body could have caused the joey serious injury.

“When she’s running, it’s not supported underneath, and wombats are incredibly solid, especially in their back end, so there’s every chance she could have fractured the upper humerus, or the top of the arms, or caused damage to the shoulders. You can see the joey swinging, but it’s also hissing and crying out, which is a sign of extreme distress,” she continued.

“You can also see the extreme distress the mother is in, chasing her across the road.”

She also points out that Ms Jones put the mother in harm’s way as well — allowing it to potentially be hit by a car.

“This is just an extremely unacceptable way to treat our wildlife, which is already under incredible pressure right now,” she noted."

 

--------

The petition has received ample financial support for promotions. Thank you for that.

Please direct any future financial donations to an Australian wildlife or wombat specific conservation group from now on.

The wombats in the video have mange which requires urgent medical treatment to survive, so please, direct your funds towards this medical care and any additional attention to finding out where this may have occurred so these specific wombats and others in the area can be cared for too.

To protect the wombats please consider the following organisations:

WIRES https://www.wires.org.au/ways-to-give 

Wombat Rescue https://wombatrescue.com.au/  

or any other wildlife organisation you deem to be suitable using your own discretion.

We, however, will not stop until adequate charges and/or penalties have been placed on both of the offenders in this incident, so please keep sharing and do not stop until our wildlife gets the adequate zero-tolerance protection it deserves.

 

avatar of the starter
K W

Petition starter

Media enquiries

48,434

The issue

Samstrays_somewhere is a US hunting influencer who has gone viral for posting a tiktok of her taking a baby wombat away from its mother in the middle of the night as a joke...for a bit of fun. They can be seen laughing in the video as they have complete disregard and disrespect for Australia's adored wildlife. 

Samstrays_somewhere should be deported from the country immediately and banned from ever returning for this action. The Australian man she is with should also receive serious penalties for facilitating this behaviour.

Messing with Australia's beloved wildlife is not a joke. 

10newsfirst instagram video of the incident

r/Australia post of incident

NOTE: this is NOT a witch hunt and we do not support anyone taking matters into their own hands. This petition is to send a message to Australian politicians and legal officers to not let this case go. 

I have read about people reporting this to the police and the excuse has been "we don't know which state so we can't do anything about it". This is not good enough and needs to be elevated to the higher ranks of the police force and government with a proper investigation to be made. 

DO NOT TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS

Contact your politicians, contact the police, put pressure on the officials to take the appropriate and fair legal action needed.

Any illegal actions will not be tolerated. Please remain civil and stay within the scope of the law. The goal of this petition is to escalate the matter to the highest levels of power in the country. DO NOT attack, harass, threaten or in any way harm this woman. Do not interact with her. Contact the police and politicians.

----------------

On another note:

Please share the petition with your friends. A lot of social media website do not allow petitions to be shared in groups. The best way to get support from Aussies is through your networks. 

Yes the title is wrong, apologies, but I will not change it because it will break the shared link. I updated the name in the content.

---------------

Thank you to everyone for signing so far, please keep spreading the message until action is taken.

Here is a paragraph from a news.com.au article with a response from WIRES. (https://www.wires.org.au/

"All Australian animals are protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

WIRES has confirmed that this act is illegal.

Penalties for animal cruelty offences vary by state, with fines reaching as high as $235,600 for individuals and $250,000 for corporations, along with potential imprisonment of up to seven years.

WIRES Wildlife Vet Dr Tania Bishop told news.com.au that the wombat in the video is an at-foot joey, likely around eight months old, and completely dependent on its mother.

“It would be with the mum at all times, relying on her for protection,” she said.

Not only would it be distressing to be removed from its mother at such a young, dependent age, but the manner in which Ms Jones picked it up from the front of its body could have caused the joey serious injury.

“When she’s running, it’s not supported underneath, and wombats are incredibly solid, especially in their back end, so there’s every chance she could have fractured the upper humerus, or the top of the arms, or caused damage to the shoulders. You can see the joey swinging, but it’s also hissing and crying out, which is a sign of extreme distress,” she continued.

“You can also see the extreme distress the mother is in, chasing her across the road.”

She also points out that Ms Jones put the mother in harm’s way as well — allowing it to potentially be hit by a car.

“This is just an extremely unacceptable way to treat our wildlife, which is already under incredible pressure right now,” she noted."

 

--------

The petition has received ample financial support for promotions. Thank you for that.

Please direct any future financial donations to an Australian wildlife or wombat specific conservation group from now on.

The wombats in the video have mange which requires urgent medical treatment to survive, so please, direct your funds towards this medical care and any additional attention to finding out where this may have occurred so these specific wombats and others in the area can be cared for too.

To protect the wombats please consider the following organisations:

WIRES https://www.wires.org.au/ways-to-give 

Wombat Rescue https://wombatrescue.com.au/  

or any other wildlife organisation you deem to be suitable using your own discretion.

We, however, will not stop until adequate charges and/or penalties have been placed on both of the offenders in this incident, so please keep sharing and do not stop until our wildlife gets the adequate zero-tolerance protection it deserves.

 

avatar of the starter
K W

Petition starter

Media enquiries
Support now

48,434


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Featured comments

Avatar of Allison
Allison, Atlanta
4 months ago
This was such a blatant disrespect and disregard for wildlife in another country and should absolutely not be tolerated in ANY country. It wasn’t funny or cute but extremely distressing to the baby wombat and its mother!! Not to mention we don’t even know if they were reunited. That baby could be suffering now because of her actions! She needs to b...
Avatar of Kelsey
Kelsey
4 months ago
Just because intent for harm was not meant does not mean harm did not happen. It’s time for people to understand actions have consequences.
Avatar of Randy
Randy, Butler
4 months ago
Clearly there was no consideration or regard for the frightened wildlife in this situation... They were selfishly used for 'online influencer content'. Respect for all animals -- particularly protected wildlife -- is common sense, and those who disgracefully betray that respect should be punished accordingly.

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Petition created on 11 March 2025