In Montana, an 80-year-old man, Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two wildlife crimes related to his scheme to allow paying customers to hunt sheep on private ranches.
However, these were no ordinary sheep; they were “huge hybrid sheep” that emerged from the illegal importation of animal parts from Central Asia, followed by cloning and breeding to produce a huge hybrid species.
Schubarth owns and operates a 215-acre “alternative cattle ranch” in Vaughn, Montana, where he launched the operation in 2013, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. “Alternative livestock” includes hybrids of mountain sheep, mountain goats and other large mammals, often sought by wealthy individuals for trophy hunting.
An unnamed accomplice of Schubarth started the decade-long scheme by illegally importing biological tissue from a Marco Polo sheep, the world’s largest sheep, from Kyrgyzstan into the U.S. in 2013, prosecutors said.
These sheep are exceptionally large, with the average male weighing more than 300 pounds and horns stretching more than 5 feet wide, making them possess the largest sheep horns in the world.
These sheep are classified as endangered and are protected by international treaties and U.S. law. Montana also bans the import of these foreign sheep or their parts to protect local American sheep from disease.
After smuggling the sheep parts into the US, Schubarth sent them to an unnamed laboratory, which generated 165 cloned embryos, according to the DOJ.
“Schubarth then implanted the embryos into ewes on his farm, resulting in a single, purely genetic male Marco Polo argali that he named ‘Montana Mountain King’ or MMK,” authorities said. wrote.
He then undertook artificial insemination of his female sheep to establish a new hybrid breed. These colossal ‘frankensheep’ were intended as targets for trophy hunters looking for sport.
Everything went as intended until authorities arrested him.
“This was an audacious plan to create massive hybrid sheep species that could be sold and hunted as trophies,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
“In pursuing this plan, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native animal populations.”
Schubart conspired with at least five other people not named in the indictment. Schubarth faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He is expected to be sentenced in July by Judge Brian M. Morris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
