Bred for targets

Source: US rancher used tissue and testicles to breed ‘giant’ sheep to sell for hunting | Montana | The Guardian

A Montana rancher illegally used tissue and testicles from wild sheep killed by hunters in central Asia and the US to breed “giant” hybrid sheep for sale to private hunting preserves in Texas, according to court documents and federal prosecutors.

Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, of Vaughn, Montana, pleaded guilty to felony charges of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to traffic wildlife during an appearance Tuesday before a federal judge in Great Falls.
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Court documents describe a years-long conspiracy, beginning in 2013, in which Schubarth and at least five other people sought to create “giant sheep hybrids” by cross-breeding 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 animals – Marco Polo argali sheep – Schubarth procured cloned embryos of the animal from a lab, according to court documents.

The embryos were later implanted in a ewe, resulting in a pure Marco Polo argali sheep that Schubert named “Montana Mountain King”, the documents show.
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This is not something that keeps me up at night . . . as I wander to the kitchen for the last of the smoked ham. My late uncle and his surviving wife have trophies on all four walls of their living room. Yet as a family, we raised livestock and other critters for meat. Rather, I see it as another type of agriculture.

The only thing that bothers me is the resolution:

Montana Mountain King is in the custody of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, according to Department of Justice spokesperson Matthew Nies. As part of the plea deal, Schubert agreed to quarantine any other sheep containing Marco Polo argali genetics and any bighorn sheep that had been harvested from the wild.

The deal also allows federal wildlife officials to inspect and, if needed, neuter the animals.​

At least they won't become another invasive species.

Bob Wilson