A Montana man genetically modified sheep to create 350-pound monsters

It’s in the state of Montana, in the northwest of the United States, that there has just been a legal appearance that was unexpected, to say the least. On Tuesday March 12, an 80-year-old man pleaded guilty to the charges against him. He was accused of completely illegally genetically modifying sheep to organize a new kind of hunting parties, reports Gizmodo. Man created massive hybrid animals from animal parts imported from China.

A man named Arthur Schubarth, nicknamed “Jack”, owns a herd of 215 head. “Options”. In 2013, in his village of Vaughan (Montana), he began his experiments, which led to the formation of this strange procession of animals, which are at the crossroads of sheep, goats and large mammals. Popular among hunting enthusiasts.

Poor creatures

During 2013, a friend of the accused allegedly illegally imported Argali (or “Marco Polo sheep”), the world’s largest sheep, from Kyrgyzstan biological material. Doctor Victor Frankenstein (or the character played by Willem Dafoe in the film Poor creatures). After smuggling other animal parts, Arthur Schubarth sent them to a laboratory that created 165 cloned embryos for him.

These were then ” implanted in his ranch sheep, which made it possible to give birth to a pure Argali male that he named “Montana Mountain King” or MMK., explain federal authorities in a press release. The MMK sperm then allowed him to inseminate sheep, resulting in hybrid animals.

Arthur Schubarth’s animals weigh more than 150 kg (at least for males) and their horns often exceed 1.50 m in size, making them the largest sheep on Earth. The purpose of their creation is very calmly explained by the accused: he then wanted to make them available to hunters who wanted to modify the pleasure and attack other types of targets.

Anxious to make as much profit as possible from his totally insane idea, Arthur Schubarth also sold about fifteen ewe inseminated in this way in Minnesota in 2018, and sold thirty-seven doses of semen from his MMK to a man living in the area. Texas. He also cloned his favorite animal to create a variant called “Montana Black Magic”, which he planned to sell for 10,000 dollars (approximately 9,127 euros), still in Texas.

But Arthur Schubarth must now answer for his actions. He is specifically accused of being “violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which address the viability and health of native animals”, as explained by Todd Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) of the United States Department of Justice. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Judgment will be heard in July 2024 by the Montana court.