Montana Ranch Owner and Others Conspire to Clone Largest Sheep Species for Financial Gain, Violating Endangered Species Act and Lacey Act
Over the past ten years, a Montana ranch owner, Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, and at least five other individuals allegedly engaged in an illicit scheme to create a larger hybrid species of the Marco Polo argali sheep, the world’s largest sheep species, for financial gain. According to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Schubarth and his cohorts conspired to import sheep parts from Asia into the United States, in violation of the Lacey Act.
Schubarth, now 80 and a resident of Vaughn, Montana, pleaded guilty to felony charges related to this matter. The Lacey Act forbids trafficking in illegally taken wildlife, fish, or plants. Schubarth is facing a maximum of five years in prison for each of the two felony counts and a fine up to $250,000.
Between 2013 and 2021, Schubarth and others embarked on a mission to produce a larger hybrid sheep by smuggling trafficked Marco Polo argali sheep parts from Kyrgyzstan. Their ultimate goal was to sell these animals, primarily to captive hunting facilities in Texas, for higher prices. The Marco Polo argali sheep, known for their impressive size (weighing over 300 pounds) and long spiraling horns that can span more than 5 feet, is listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act.
The creation of this larger hybrid sheep was problematic for several reasons. Marco Polo argali sheep are native to Central Asia’s Pamir Mountains region and are banned in Montana to protect native sheep from disease and hybridization. The sheep species is also internationally protected.
Schubarth, who owned a 215-acre keyboards farm where mountain sheep, mountain goats, and other hoofed mammals were bought, sold, and bred, was the only person named in the court documents. The five others involved were residents of Montana, Texas, and Minnesota who were part of alternative livestock husbandry and commercial livestock sales.
Schubarth is accused of conspiring to bring undeclared biological tissue from Marco Polo argali sheep into the US. He engaged a third party to create a cloned argali sheep from the trafficked parts using advanced techniques like artificial insemination and other artificial breeding methods.
Schubarth’s farm, Sun River Enterprises (also known as Schubarth Ranch), primarily marketed and sold live animals and genetic material to shooting preserves. He and his co-conspirators allegedly performed artificial insemination and other breeding techniques to create larger, more valuable lines of argali sheep.
Ron Howell, the chief of enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, stated, “The kind of crime we uncovered here could threaten the integrity of our wildlife species in Montana.”
In January 2013, a co-conspirator entered the US with undeclared biological tissue from a Marco Polo argali sheep hunted in Kyrgyzstan. Schubarth then entered into cell storage and cloning contracts to have an unspecified number of sheep cloned from the trafficked parts. In November 2016, 165 cloned Marco Polo embryos were received at his ranch, and a pure male Marco Polo argali sheep was born in May 2017.
Schubarth then began harvesting semen from Montana Mountain King to artificially inseminate ewes, in hopes of creating hybrid offspring. However, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Montana’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks are investigating this case, with Schubarth set to be sentenced on July 11.
The creation of a larger hybrid sheep species for commercial purposes not only violated the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act but also endangered the genetic integrity of the Marco Polo argali sheep population. The smuggling of parts from internationally protected species and violating Montana state laws further complicated this case, demonstrating the importance of enforcing wildlife protection laws.
