80-year-old Man Cloned Sheep Via Illegal Animal Parts to Create, Hunt Enormous Hybrid Species
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A Montana man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to felony wildlife charges after making plans to let paying customers onto his property to hunt sheep.
But according to Gizmodo, the sheep were not the typical varieties found in Montana - or in nature. These “massive hybrid sheep” were created by illegally importing animal parts from central Asia, which the man then used to clone the animals.
This resulted in an “enormous hybrid species,” Gizmodo reports.
In a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, is the owner and operator of Sun River Enterprises LLC in Vaughn, Montana. The primary market for the 215-acre “alternative livestock ranch” was captive hunting operations, where trophy-hunting customers would pay to hunt the animals kept there.
Schubart was aided by an unnamed accomplice, who would smuggle in biological material from the Marco Polo sheep, the largest sheep in the world, from Kyrgyzstan. An average male Marco Polo sheep can weigh over 300 pounds with horns stretching as far as 5 feet, according to Gizmodo.
As an endangered species, Marco Polo sheep are protected by both international and U.S. law. Montana law also forbids the importing of foreign sheep or their parts to protect local animals from the spread of disease.
The Department of Justice said that Schubarth sent the parts to an unidentified lab, where 165 embryos were clones. Those embryos were then implanted into ewes on his ranch, leading to a pure genetic Marco Polo sheep. Schubarth then used that sheep to artificially inseminate female sheep, leading to the birth of animals that were a hybrid species that would then be used for sport hunting.
Schubarth also forged veterinarian inspection certificates to transport these hybrid animals, sold semen from his cloned Marco Polo sheep to other farmers, and offered to sell its offspring for $10,000. He pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act, which forbids acquiring, transporting or selling wildlife against federal laws.
At least five other people were part of the conspiracy to transport and breed the hybrid animals, though they are not named in the indictment. Schubarth faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, and is expected to be sentenced in July
