An 80-year-old Montana rancher, Arthur "Jack" Schubarth, pleaded guilty to wildlife trafficking charges for breeding giant hybrid sheep using illegally imported genetic material from Marco Polo argali sheep. He aimed to create these "franken-sheep" to sell to private hunting preserves, primarily in Texas. Schubarth, who operated a ranch focused on breeding alternative livestock, used cloned embryos and artificially inseminated ewes with the smuggled semen, creating a larger and more valuable species of sheep. He also illegally obtained and transported testicles from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. His actions violated the Lacey Act, which prohibits interstate wildlife trafficking and the sale of falsely labeled wildlife.
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8 mins