According to court documents, 81-year-old Arthur “Jack” Schubarth unlawfully imported body parts of the largest sheep in the world, the Marco Polo argali, from Kyrgyzstan and transmitted the genetic material to a lab to manufacture cloned embryos.
He called the solitary male produced by the cloning “Montana Mountain King,” or MMK.
Next, ewes intended for sale to shooting preserves—also referred to as captive hunting operations—were inseminated with MMK.
“This was a bold plan to breed large hybrid sheep species for sale and trophy hunting,” said a statement from the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) of the justice department.
Male Marco Polo argalis are capable of weighing over 135 kg (300 lbs) and having horns that extend over 1.5 m (5 ft).
Originating in the Central Asian mountains, the sheep is covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).
In Montana, they are forbidden to both limit the spread of disease and stop the emergence of hybrid sheep.
According to the prosecution, Schubarth is the owner of Sun River Enterprises LLC, a ranch that raises and sells “alternative livestock” to exclusive hunting preserves where clients can shoot the animals for a charge.
According to court records, he sold three individuals in Texas hybrid sheep and semen from MMK.
Additionally, Schubarth’s ranch received a sheep owner from Minnesota who brought his animals to be inseminated.
