Montana rancher, 80, pleads guilty to creating huge 'franken-sheep' out of cloned Marco Polo ram semen from Kyrgyzstan and his mountain ewes to make massive new breed for hunting
By Isabelle Stanley For Dailymail.Com,
6 hours ago
An 80-year-old rancher has pleaded guilty to creating a huge 'Franken-sheep' he named the Montana Mountain King with sperm illegally imported from Kyrgyzstan.
Over 10 years, Arthur 'Jack' Schubarth from Vaughan, Montana, bought sperm and testicles from the world's largest sheep, the Marco Polo Argali, and secretly created cloned embryos to impregnate his ewes and breed giant banned hybrids.
Along with five co-conspirators, he then sold the sheep to game ranches in Texas, forging their medical records to get them out of the state, and sold sperm from his prize Montana Mountain King to other ranches.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim said in a statement: 'This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies.'
He will be sentenced in July on two felony wildlife charges that each potentially carry a five-year sentence.
He created a giant stud ram which he named Montana Mountain King or MMK (pictured). MMK was seized by the authorities and Schubarth worries for his well-being
He also bought testicles of wild bighorn sheep from a hunter as part of a scheme to crossbreed the animal with a sheep species (non hybrid bighorn pictured)
According to the Department of Justice , the scheme started in 2013 and continued until 2021 at Schubarth's ranch in Montana, the Sun River Enterprises LLC.
He started buying sperm from the endangered Central Asian Marco Polo Argali sheep and illegally importing it into the United States without declaring it.
Marco Polo Argali are the world's biggest sheep and an adult male can weigh more than 300 pounds with horns spanning over five feet, making them highly prized among hunters.
Sheep vary in size and weight depending on their breed, but it is rare for them to weigh over 300 pounds.
Schubarth sent the sperm to a lab to create cloned embryos which he implanted into his ewes to bring forth a 'single, pure genetic male Margo Polo argali' that he named the 'Montana Mountain King,' or the MMK.
He then used MMK's sperm to impregnate other ewes, creating more hybrids, all of which were banned in the state.
He sold the offspring to hunting lodges in Texas - sometimes fetching up to $10,000 a sheep - and also sold MMK's sperm to other sheep breeders in the state.
He also illegally paid $400 to a hunter to buy testicles from Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep to extract sperm for cross-breeding.
His goal was to create a 'larger and more valuable species of sheep' to sell to shooting ranches in Texas.
To move the banned sheep in and out of the state, he forged vet inspection certificates, claiming they were a legal breed.
When authorities discovered the scheme, they removed MMK.
A normal sheep. Sheep vary in weight depending on their breed but it is rare for them to weigh over 300 pounds
Schubarth shared photos of his giant sheep (one pictured here) on Facebook some can grow up to 300 pounds
Schubarth pictured with one of his giant sheep, it is not clear if this is a hybrid
One of the giant sheep Schubarth shared photos of - he created them using sperm from MMK to create all different hybrids with cloned embyros
Schubarth worries for he may be lonely.
He posted on Facebook: 'I think the Feds have placed the Marco polo in a zoo in Texas . I personally feel the ram should have friends and some of his daughters should be placed with him.
He added: 'There is a group working to get pure Marco polo here in the States. If they get to that point it would be nice to place him there for his sake and genetic diversity.'
Schubarth said that the prosecution had left him 'broke.'
He wrote: 'We have a meeting with our Fish & Game 3/12 at 11am to see if they will let the slaughter Marco polo go to Slaughter.
'We are also asking for legal sheep to be allowed for sale. If we get approval, we would sure like for you to support us in sales.
'We have not been able to sell sheep for about three years now. First time in 80 plus years I'm broke. Thank you for any support.'
He didn't appear to hide the scheme, posting on Facebook in 2018: 'We have been making hybrids since 1980. We also have pure Alaskan Dahl, pure Rocky Mountain Bighorns and hybrid stone sheep.
He then sold the sheep to hunting lodges in Texas or sold sperm from MMK directly to other breeders
Another giant sheep he shared photos of. He said the prosecution has left him 'broke' as he has been unable to sell sheep for three years
For each felony count, Schubarth faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release
'We make collections from some of the best rams out there in Rocky Mountain bighorns. This last season we made collections from RMB's that had 18 1/2 inch bases and horn length at 44 inch's.
'This fall we will try to clone some stone rams and Alaskan dahl. Most of my hybrids have 14 inch bases some even more.'
Assistant Attorney General Kim said: 'In pursuit of this scheme, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native populations of animals.'
Ron Howell, Chief of Enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks added: 'The kind of crime we uncovered here could threaten the integrity of our wildlife species in Montana.'
The Lacey Act prohibits interstate trade in wildlife that has been taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of federal or state law.
For each felony count, Schubarth faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
Schubarth is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11 by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Brian M. Morris for the District of Montana.
03-14-2024, 03:43 PM
Montana rancher, 80, pleads guilty creating huge 'franken-sheep' out of cloned semen
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