An American tourist and Instagram influencer was recently slammed on social media for posting a video of herself taking a baby wombat from its mother.

Sam Jones, who has nearly 100,000 Instagram followers under the handle @samstrays_somewhere, left Australia on Friday after her wombat video landed her in hot water with local authorities.

The Instagram reel shows Jones picking up the wombat and running away from its mother as the cameraman laughs. The mother initially runs away from Jones out of fear, and paces back to retrieve her child as the baby marsupial dangles in Jones’ hands.

“Look at the mother! It’s like, chasing after us,” the amused cameraman is heard saying.

The social media creator added that she returned the baby marsupial to its mother and made sure they got off the road together.

“I have done a great deal of reflection on this situation and have realized that I did not handle this situation as best as I should have,” Jones wrote. “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.”

Jones emphasized that the incident was “never about social media or getting likes.”

FILE- A baby wombat, known as a joey, and its mother seen in Tasmania. (iStock)

“This was not staged, nor was it done for entertainment,” she concluded. “In my excitement and concern, I acted too quickly and then failed to provide necessary context to viewers online.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Jones for additional comment, but did not immediately hear back.

Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton contributed to this report.