Influencer faces backlash after grabbing wildlife during photo op: 'The audacity of these people is next level'

A Reddit user took to the platform to show an American influencer's problematic post in which they manhandled Australian wildlife.

The person mentioned in the post is fishing and wildlife personality Garrett Galvin (@fishingarrett), known for saying his catchphrase "yoink" when nabbing any number of creatures. Normally, these animals are snakes or crocodiles, though his post with the Australian frilled-neck lizard and various monitor lizards garnered outrage.

"It's really not that hard." — Photo Credit: Reddit

One commenter raised a fair point, saying: "I've seen this guy on YouTube before. I can appreciate the work he's doing in the Florida Everglades with removing invasive species, but he's just promoting recklessness. Like it's obvious that some 12 year old watching his videos is going to try emulating his actions and get hurt or hurt animals in the process."

Incidents such as this one are easy to come by. A video went viral recently of a tourist in British Columbia approaching and touching a black bear sitting on a shore, showing no fear and no respect for the animal. Another post circulating the internet showed a woman touching, then being head-butted by, a wild bison in Yellowstone National Park. A lesson learned the hard way: Leave wildlife alone.

According to the Government of South Australia's Department for Environment and Water: "Most native animal species are protected by state laws. This means that generally it is an offence to catch, restrain, injure, take, kill, hunt, interfere with, harass, or molest a protected animal, or attempt to do so, without a permit."

Aside from it being unlawful, interacting with wildlife poses not only a danger to your safety but could also put the critter at risk for disease or other physical harm. The U.S. National Park Service recommends staying at least 25 yards away from small wildlife and 100 yards away from larger animals at all times.

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Other commenters reacted to the influencer's harmful actions. "When I lived in Australia for 8 months and back-packed around, one of the things I didn't do was start randomly picking up or harassing wildlife," one said. "It's really not that hard. The audacity of these people is next level."

"Leave the animals alone!" another said bluntly.

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