This undated handout photo provided by the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks shows a sheep nicknamed Montana Mountain King that was part of unlawful scheme to create large, hybrid species of wild sheep for sale to hunting preserves in Texas. /AP
A Montana rancher in the U.S. illegally used tissue and testicles from wild sheep killed by hunters in central Asia and the U.S. to breed "giant" hybrid sheep for sale to private hunting preserves in Texas, according to court documents and federal prosecutors.
Arthur "Jack" Schubarth pleaded guilty to felony charges of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to traffic wildlife during an appearance Tuesday before a federal judge in Great Falls.
Court documents describe a yearslong conspiracy, beginning in 2013, in which Schubarth and at least five other people sought to create "giant sheep hybrids" by cross-breeding different species. Their goal was to garner high prices from hunting preserves where people shoot captive trophy game animals for a fee.
Using biological tissue obtained from a hunter who killed a wild sheep in Kyrgyzstan belonging to the world's largest species of the animal – Marco Polo argali sheep – Schubarth procured cloned embryos of the animal from a lab, according to court documents.
The embryos were later implanted in an ewe, resulting in a pure Marco Polo argali sheep that Schubert named "Montana Mountain King," the documents show. Semen from Montana Mountain King was used to artificially impregnate other ewes to create a larger and more valuable species of sheep.
The skulls of two Marco Polo argali sheep in the Wakhan Corridor of northeastern Afghanistan, 2004. /CFP
Male argali sheep can top 136 kilograms with horns up to 1.5 meters long, according to officials, making them prized among some hunters. They are protected under international convention as a threatened species and outlawed for import into Montana to protect native sheep from disease and hybridization.
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Todd Kim described Schubarth's actions as "an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies." Kim said the defendant violated the Lacey Act, which restricts wildlife trafficking and prohibits the sale of falsely labeled wildlife.
Montana Mountain King is in the custody of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to Department of Justice spokesperson Matthew Nies. Any other sheep containing Marco Polo argali genetics and any bighorn sheep that were harvested from the wild are currently under quarantine.
The federal wildlife officials are allowed to inspect and, if needed, neuter the animals.
(With input from AP)