Man pleads guilty to trying to create a giant hybrid sheep species

When you think you have either read or heard it all a story such this one surfaces, revealing one man's quest to create a giant hybrid sheep species.

2

Marco Polo sheep skulls

Arthur "Jack" Schubarth, an 80-year-old man from Montana has pleaded guilty to two felony wildlife crimes that authorities are calling an "audacious scheme" to create a giant hybrid sheep species that was going to sold and hunted as trophies. Schubarth began conspiring with several other individuals in 2013 to create the new species, and according to reports the Montana man purchased parts of the Marco Polo argali sheep, that can weigh as much as 300 pounds, from Kyrgyzstan into the United States.

Schubarth didn't declare the importation and this particular species of sheep is protected both internationally and domestically by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Schubarth then took genetic material from the Marco Polo sheep parts and sent it to a lab to create embyros, paying a deposit of $4,200 to the lab back in 2015.

Schubarth received 165 cloned Marco Polo embryos in November 2016, which were then implanted into ewes on his 216-acre ranch spawning a pure genetic male Marco Polo argali that he named "Montana Mountain King".

"This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies," said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim

The semen from Montana Mountain King was then used to artificial impregnate other various sheep. Notably, Schubarth and the other members of his hybrid sheep creating outfit forged veterinary inspection certificates to relocate the sheep outside of Montana. Furthermore, Montana Mountain King's semen was sold to other breeders.

"The kind of crime we uncovered here could threaten the integrity of our wildlife species in Montana," Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Chief of Enforcement Ron Howell said. "This was a complex case and the partnership between us and U.S Fish and Wildlife Service was critical in solving it."