Please refrain from spending nearly ten years secretly replicating endangered sheep to create huge Frankensheep mixes for rich people to hunt for fun. It's highly illegal, and the US government will use your case as a warning to others.Case in point: Arthur “Jack” Schubarth. The 80-year-old owner of a 215-acre “alternative livestock” ranch in Montana who the Justice Department reports
pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two felony wildlife crimes—conspiracy to violate, as well as “substantively violating” the Lacey Act, a law enacted in 1900 to combat illegal animal trafficking. Located in Vaughn, Montana, Schubarth Ranch is what’s known as a shooting preserve or game ranch, where people pay exorbitant amounts to hunt captive, often exotic animals like mountain goats. Or, in this case, extremely large, never-before-seen hybrid supersheep derived from Central Asia’s
Ovis ammon polii , or the Marco Polo argali.With a shoulder height as tall as 49-inches and horns over five-feet wide, the 300-pound Marco Polo argali is unequivocally the world’s largest sheep species. They are also
protected, and fall under the jurisdictions of both the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the US Endangered Species Act. Additionally, they’re banned in the state of Montana to protect native species against disease and hybridization. However, Schubarth and at least five associates decided to attempt breeding new sheep hybrid species using Marco Polo argali DNA in order to increase hunting rates. extremely How hunting deer became a battle cry in conservation
[Related: Pulling it off apparently required serious scientific and international scheming. According to.]
Justice Department officials , Schubarth secretly purchased “parts” of Marco Polo argali sheep from Kyrgyzstan in 2013, then arranged transportation of the biological samples to the US. Once here, Schubarth then tasked a lab to create embryo clones from the Marco Polo argali genetic material. These embryos were then implanted in ewes of a different sheep species on his farm, which eventually produced a pure male Marco Polo argali Schubarth crowned the “Montana Mountain King,” aka MMK.From there, “other unnamed co-conspirators” alongside Schubarth artificially inseminated other ewes (also apparently of sheep species illegal in Montana) using MMK semen. Throughout, the sheep scandal included forged vet inspection certificates claiming the legitimacy of their livestock, as well as the sale of MMK’s semen to breeders in other states. According to
court documents , sheep containing 25-percent Montana Mountain King genetics fetched as much as $15,000 per head. A son of MMK, called Montana Black Magic, helped produce sheep worth around $10,000 each.The genetic theft wasn’t limited to Marco Polo argali, either. Court filings also show Schubarth pursued similar endeavors to accumulate genetic material harvested from Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, which he then also sold through interstate deals.” All of this, perhaps unsurprisingly, also violated state laws prohibiting the sale of game animal parts and the use of game animals on alternative livestock ranches.
The crimes sadly go much further than simple greed. These laws against trafficking animals are not just to protect conservation efforts—they’re there to keep the local ecosystems healthy.
“While doing this plan, Schubarth broke international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the survival and health of native animal populations,” Todd Kim, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD),
stated on Tuesday , with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Chief of Enforcement Ron Howell adding, “The kind of crime we discovered here could endanger the stability of our wildlife species in Montana.”It’s not known how many crossbred sheep Schubarth and his colleagues managed to breed, as well as how many were eventually sold and possibly hunted.
has contacted the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division for clarification. PopSci In the meantime, Schubarth now faces up to five years in prison per felony count, a maximum $250,000 fine, and three years supervised release. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.
Conspirators used the genetic material of Marco Polo argali sheep from Kyrgyzstan to breed completely new animals.
