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topicnews · October 1, 2024

Montana rancher who created giant sheep hybrids sentenced to prison

Montana rancher who created giant sheep hybrids sentenced to prison

The rancher created a clone from the body parts of illegally purchased sheep. His goal was to “create a larger and more valuable species of sheep to sell to captive hunting establishments.”

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A Montana rancher was sentenced to six months in prison Monday after he cloned a “near-endangered” sheep from Asia and then sold its offspring to hunting preserves, according to court documents.

Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 81, will spend six months in federal prison, with three years of supervised release, and must pay a $20,000 fine and $4,000 community service payment for cloning the endangered Marco Polo sheep pay to the Asian country Kyrgyzstan.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Schubarth was convicted of committing two crimes: conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantive violation of the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act is a law that prohibits the trade in illegally caught wildlife, fish or plants.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Schubarth and at least five other people conspired between 2013 and 2021 to “create a larger hybrid variety of sheep that would command higher prices from shooting ranges.”

“Schubarth’s criminal conduct is inconsistent with the way Montanans treat our wildlife population,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana Jesse Laslovich said in a statement. “In fact, his actions threatened Montana’s native wildlife species for no other reason than that he and his co-conspirators wanted to make more money.”

Rancher illegally bought parts of the sheep

According to court documents, the rancher illegally brought parts of the near-threatened Marco Polo Argali sheep, one of the world’s largest sheep species weighing 300 pounds or more, from the Asian country of Kyrgyzstan to the United States.

From 2013 to 2021, Schubarth also sold mountain sheep, mountain goats and various other hoofed animals animalAccording to the Ministry of Justice, these are primarily hunting facilities for prisoners.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, captive hunting facilities or hunting preserves “allow trophy hunters to shoot fenced-in animals.” “The animals are often semi-tame – some have even been hand-raised or bottle-fed by humans.”

“Argali sheep are hunted as trophies because of their size and unique long, spiral-shaped horns,” court documents state. “Argali horns are the largest of all wild sheep.”

According to court documents, Argali sheep have a market value of over $350 per animal.

A protected species

The sheep come from the high elevations of the Pamir region in Central Asia and “are banned in the state of Montana to protect native sheep from disease and hybridization,” the Justice Department said.

According to the Justice Department, the sheep are protected globally by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and domestically by the Endangered Species Act.

“This case illustrates the serious threat that wildlife trafficking poses to our native species and ecosystems,” Edward Grace, deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement, said in a statement. “Mr. Schubarth’s actions not only violated numerous wildlife protection laws, but also risked introducing disease and endangering the genetic integrity of our wild sheep populations.

Schubarth pleaded guilty in March

According to court documents filed in March in the District of Montana, the rancher admitted to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and committing a material violation of the Lacey Act while owning Sun River Enterprises LLC and operated under this.

The crime has since “ruined his life, his reputation and his family,” his lawyers said.

He committed the crimes at Schubarth Ranch, a 215-acre alternative cattle ranch in Vaughn, Montana, records show.

“On a ranch, in a barn in Montana, he founded Montana Mountain King (MMK),” says the verdict presented by Schubarth’s lawyers. “MMK is an extraordinary animal, born of science and of a man who, if he could rewrite history, would have left the challenge of cloning a Marco Polo only to the imagination of Michael Crichton (the author of Jurassic Park). . “

How did Schubarth create the giant hybrid sheep?

To create the hybrid sheep, Schubarth sent genetic material from the Argali parts to a third-party lab to create cloned embryos, according to the Justice Department. He paid $4,200 bail for the cloning, according to court records.

The rancher and his co-conspirators then used artificial breeding techniques to implant the 165 cloned Marco Polo embryos into female sheep at the Schubarth Ranch, court records show.

Schubarth’s trial would result in a single all-genetic male Marco Polo argali named “Montana Mountain King” or “MMK,” the Justice Department said. The rancher then used MMK’s sperm to artificially impregnate other female sheep kept illegally in Montana, creating “hybrid animals,” federal authorities said.

Schubarth and his co-conspirator’s goal was to “create a larger and more valuable species of sheep to sell to captive hunting facilities, primarily in Texas,” the Justice Department said.

According to the DOJ, Schubarth illegally sold sheep throughout the United States

Transporting the sheep to and from Montana meant Schubarth and others had to forge veterinary inspection certificates and lie about the sheep being legal animals, according to court documents. The rancher would also sell MMK semen directly to sheep farmers in other U.S. states, the documents continued.

According to court documents, in addition to Argali sheep, Schubarth also illegally purchased genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana. He violated Montana law by buying and selling parts of the wild-hunted sheep. He also sold Big Horn parts in various states, federal authorities said.

“This was a bold plan to create giant hybrid sheep to be sold and hunted as trophies,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in the release. “In pursuing this plan, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native animal populations.”

Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and breaking news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

Julia is a trends reporter for USA TODAY. You can connect with her LinkedInkeep following her X, formerly Twitter, Instagram And TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at [email protected]

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