Man Faces Prison Time For Creating ‘Giant’ Hybrid Sheep To Offer Bigger Hunting Trophies
A Montana rancher is facing the possibility of jail time for illegally breeding a “giant hybrid sheep” species.
Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, from Vaughn, illegally used tissue and testicles from wild sheep killed by hunters in central Asia and the U.S. to breed the “giant” hybrid sheep species. His intention was to sell the species to private hunting preserves in Texas.
During an appearance on Tuesday before a federal judge in Great Falls, Arthur pleaded guilty to felony charges of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to traffic wildlife.
Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, pleaded guilty to felony charges of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to traffic wildlife
Image credits: Mayukh Karmakar / Pexels (Representational Image)
Legal filings reveal that Arthur, alongside other unnamed conspirators, employed the semen of the Montana Mountain King (MMK) in a scheme to artificially inseminate various species of ewes – all of which were not permitted in Montana – aiming to produce hybrid creatures.
Their objective was to engineer a bigger and more “valuable” species of sheep that would eventually become prized hunting trophies.
Arthur “conspired with at least five other individuals between 2013 and 2021 to create the larger hybrid species of sheep that would garner higher prices from shooting preserves,” read a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Arthur illegally used tissue and testicles from wild sheep to create the “giant” hybrid sheep
This is fucking nuts and I say this as someone who spends a lot of time thinking about the weird possibilities of biology
This motherfucker went full breaking bad on some cloned sheep nuts to make big sheep for hunting trophieshttps://t.co/0nBQxGzcuw
— Jake Wintermute 🪵 (@SynBio1) March 14, 2024
“This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD).
“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,” Todd said.
Arthur and his conspirators’ goal was to ultimately offer better hunting trophies
US rancher used tissue and testicles to breed ‘giant’ sheep to sell for hunting https://t.co/fZEtVcST8i
— Oliver Milman (@olliemilman) March 14, 2024
“The kind of crime we uncovered here could threaten the integrity of our wildlife species in Montana,” said Ron Howell, chief of enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP). “This was a complex case and the partnership between us and U.S Fish and Wildlife Service was critical in solving it.”
Arthur faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each felony count and a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release. He will be handed his sentence on July 11.
I will never understand how anyone is impressed with such trophies, especially when the assumption is that they paid a bunch of money and were either taken to the animal or the animal was released right in front of them.
And not only those, but someone CREATED the animal that was brought to their faces for them to shoot. 🙄 Where is the “thrill of the hunt” when someone builds and DELIVERS to you the animal whose head you plan to mount? Where is the pride (or whatever it is they feel) at hanging the head of a manufactured animal people helped you to kill?
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I'd be interested to know if the guy knew what he was doing could be illegal. Since nearly exactly the same thing has been done with "elk-wapiti-red deer" The cross between American wapiti and Russian-Asian Red Deer strains - is a standard way to create mind-bogglingly huge antlers- almost entirely restricted to hunting preserves.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse - but in this case, dude knew EXACTLY that what he was doing was illegal. "To move the prohibited sheep into and out of Montana, Schubarth and others forged veterinary inspection certificates, falsely claiming that the sheep were legally permitted species." He also owns and runs an "alternative livestock ranch" in Montana, and the primary market for Schubarth’s "livestock" is captive hunting operations, also known as shooting preserves or game ranches. So he absolutely had to know Montana law as it pertained to which ungulate species are legal in his state. He and others artificially impregnated various other species of ewes – all of which were prohibited in Montana. So there is zero chance he did not know it was illegal.
Load More Replies... I will never understand how anyone is impressed with such trophies, especially when the assumption is that they paid a bunch of money and were either taken to the animal or the animal was released right in front of them.
And not only those, but someone CREATED the animal that was brought to their faces for them to shoot. 🙄 Where is the “thrill of the hunt” when someone builds and DELIVERS to you the animal whose head you plan to mount? Where is the pride (or whatever it is they feel) at hanging the head of a manufactured animal people helped you to kill?
Load More Replies... I'd be interested to know if the guy knew what he was doing could be illegal. Since nearly exactly the same thing has been done with "elk-wapiti-red deer" The cross between American wapiti and Russian-Asian Red Deer strains - is a standard way to create mind-bogglingly huge antlers- almost entirely restricted to hunting preserves.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse - but in this case, dude knew EXACTLY that what he was doing was illegal. "To move the prohibited sheep into and out of Montana, Schubarth and others forged veterinary inspection certificates, falsely claiming that the sheep were legally permitted species." He also owns and runs an "alternative livestock ranch" in Montana, and the primary market for Schubarth’s "livestock" is captive hunting operations, also known as shooting preserves or game ranches. So he absolutely had to know Montana law as it pertained to which ungulate species are legal in his state. He and others artificially impregnated various other species of ewes – all of which were prohibited in Montana. So there is zero chance he did not know it was illegal.
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