A Montana man was sentenced today to six months in prison for committing two felony wildlife crimes – a conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act – as part of an almost decade-long effort to create giant sheep hybrids in the United States with an aim to sell the species to captive hunting facilities. Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 81, of Vaughn, is the owner and operator of Sun River Enterprises LLC, also known as Schubarth Ranch, which is a 215-acre alternative livestock ranch in Vaughn. The Schubarth Ranch is engaged in the purchase, sale and breeding of ‘alternative livestock’ such as mountain sheep, mountain goats and various ungulates.”

“The primary market for Schubarth’s livestock is captive hunting operations, also known as shooting preserves or game ranches. According to court documents, Schubarth conspired with at least five other individuals between 2013 and 2021 to create a larger hybrid species of sheep that would garner higher prices from shooting preserves. Schubarth brought parts of the largest sheep in the world, Marco Polo argali sheep (Ovis ammon polii), from Kyrgyzstan into the US without declaring the importation. Average males can weigh more than 300 pounds, with horns that span more than five feet. Marco Polo argali are native to high elevations of the Pamir region of Central Asia.”

“They are protected internationally by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and domestically by the Endangered Species Act, and are prohibited in the State of Montana to protect native sheep from disease and hybridization. Schubarth sent genetic material from the argali parts to a lab to create cloned embryos. Schubarth then implanted the embryos in ewes on his ranch, resulting in a single, pure genetic male Marco Polo argali that he named ‘Montana Mountain King’ or MMK,” says a Justice Department press release on Dr Frankensheep’s downfall.