Albanese suggested that the woman, Sam Jones, tries doing so with animals that “can actually fight back”: “Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there.”

Ms Jones, who calls herself an “outdoor enthusiast and hunter”, was filmed picking up the joey by the road and running across it to a car, while its mother ran after them.

The man filming can be heard laughing: “Look at the mother, it’s chasing after her!” The video, which was filmed in Australia, has since been deleted.

Advertisement

Immigration officials are reviewing Ms Jones’s visa, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the BBC, following calls for her to be deported.

An online petition supporting Ms Jones’s deportation has received 10,500 signatures so far.

“Given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I’ll be surprised if she even bothers,” Burke said in a statement.

Ms Jones’s “appalling” behaviour could have caused severe harm to the wombats, conservationists say.

The Wombat Protection Society said it was shocked to see the “mishandling of a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for ‘social media likes'”.

“[She] then placed the vulnerable baby back onto a country road – potentially putting it at risk of becoming roadkill,” it noted in its statement, adding that it remains unclear if the joey reunited with its mother.

“I caught a baby wombat,” Ms Jones exclaimed in the video, while the joey could be heard hissing and struggling in her grip.

Her caption in the now-deleted post read: “My dream of holding a wombat has been realised! Baby and mom slowly waddled back off together into the bush.”

“The baby was carefully held for one minute in total and then released back to mom,” she wrote in the comments, responding to criticism.

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

Following the backlash, Ms Jones, who has more than 92,000 followers on Instagram, made her account private. But several media outlets had already shared the video – as well as earlier posts, said to be taken in Australia, which show her holding an echidna and a “little shark”.

Wombats, which are native to Australia, are a legally protected species across the country. Baby wombats share a strong bond with their mothers, and any separation can be distressing and harmful, conservationists say.

“Wombats are not a photo prop or plaything,” said Suzanne Milthorpe, Head of Campaigns at World Animal Protection Australia, in a statement online.

“It’s just unacceptable, and we’re glad she’s being called to account. Snatching a screaming baby wombat from their mother is not just appalling, it’s very possibly illegal under state or national laws,” Ms Milthrope said.

Some experts believe Ms Jones broke the law because Australia prohibits people from harming or taking native wildlife.

It is only allowed if the joey is in need of help because its mother has died, wildlife veterinarian Tania Bishop told ABC News.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong also weighed in on the “dreadful” video.

“I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, leave the baby wombat alone. Leave it with its mum,” she told 7News.

Oscar Jenkins, a 32-year-old teacher, was captured last year while fighting for Ukraine.

“The Australian government has received confirmation from Russia that Oscar Jenkins is alive and in custody,” Foreign Minster Penny Wong said in a statement on Wednesday.

Earlier, there were reports that Mr Jenkins had been killed while in captivity, with the Australian government citing “grave concerns” for his welfare.

“We still hold serious concerns for Mr Jenkins as a prisoner of war,” Wong’s statement added.

It also called on Russia to release him and reiterated Australia’s stance that the Russian Federation was obligated to treat all prisoners of war in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Prisoners of war are protected from all acts of violence or intimidation by the Geneva convention.

Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said that the government was “urgently seeking” confirmation that Mr Jenkins was alive.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia was quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as saying that it was “good news” but called on Moscow to provide “video proof” of his well being.

Mr Jenkins is thought to be the first Australian to have been held as a prisoner of war while fighting for Ukraine.

A video surfaced in December last year showing Mr Jenkins, with his hands tied, being hit in the face and questioned by Russian forces.

He explains he is a teacher and also a soldier who lives in both Australia and Ukraine.

They ask him if he is being paid to fight in Ukraine.

Albanese made the remarks on Wednesday after Seven News reported that Oscar Jenkins, who volunteered to fight with Ukrainian forces, was believed to have been killed.

Australia’s  Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said it has not verified the report, which cited unnamed sources in Ukraine, but officials have “grave concerns” for Jenkins’ welfare.

“We call upon Russia to immediately confirm Oscar Jenkins’s status, we remain gravely concerned,” Albanese told reporters in Tasmania.

“We’ll await the facts to come out. But if there has been any harm caused to Oscar Jenkins, that’s absolutely reprehensible and the Australian government will take the strongest action possible.”

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said earlier that officials were making “urgent enquiries” about Jenkins and “all options” were being considered in terms of a diplomatic response, including the possible expulsion of the Russian ambassador.

“My thoughts are with Mr Jenkins’s family. They’ve lived with the fear and uncertainty of a loved one in the middle of a foreign war for many months. I know these reports will be devastating to them, and they are in my thoughts, and I’m sure the thoughts of many Australians,” Wong told ABC Radio.

Wong said that Australia had had a “difficult relationship” with Russia for many years, citing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 by a Russian-made missile in 2014 with the loss of 298 people, including 38 Australians.

“We have maintained, Australia has maintained diplomatic relations with Russia through that period under different governments. However, we will consider all options once we have ascertained the facts and once we can verify what has actually occurred here with Mr Jenkins,” Wong said.

Video that circulated on social media last month showed Jenkins dressed in combat uniform while being interrogated and hit across the head by an unseen man speaking Russian.

The 32-year-old is believed to be the first Australian held as a prisoner of war by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Not including Jenkins, at least six Australians are believed to have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion.

If his death is confirmed, Jenkins would be the first Australian prisoner of war killed by a foreign power since Horace William “Slim” Madden died in captivity in North Korea in 1951.

The incident has been condemned by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as a “hate crime”. He told ABC News: “There’s no place for antisemitism in this country, or anywhere for that matter.”

It comes days after a fire engulfed a synagogue in Melbourne, causing minor injuries to one man, in what police there are treating as a probable terror attack.

Authorities in Sydney said they were seeking two people aged between 15 and 20 over the vandalism incident.

The pair had been wearing “face coverings and dark clothing” and were seen running from the scene, New South Wales Police said.

“We need public assistance to come forward and help identify those two people,” Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters.

Police said the car blaze was extinguished shortly after firefighters were called to the scene in Woollahra, a suburb in Sydney’s east, at around 01:00 local time (14:00 GMT).

Anti-Israel messages, including “Kill Israiel” [sic], were found at the scene, scrawled on the fence of two properties and cars.

The vehicle that was set on fire had been driven to the scene by the suspects, police said.Albanese said he had spoken to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) about the vandalism.

Earlier this week, the law enforcement body established a special taskforce to investigate incidents of antisemitism, including the alleged terror attack in Melbourne, and another vandalism spree that occurred in Woollahra last month. Police do not believe the two incidents in Woollahra are linked.New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the latest incident appeared to have been “specifically designed” to “intimidate the Jewish community in Sydney”.

“If the question is can we do more? I think the answer is yes, and I’m not closing the door to changes to the law,” he told reporters, adding that he had spoken with Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon.

The president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, David Ossip, said his community was “deeply saddened” by what had happened, but that they would “not be cowed”.