https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/01/sheep-cloning-montana-hunting-prison [p] Skip to main contentSkip to navigation Close dialogue1/1Next imagePrevious imageToggle caption Skip to navigation Print subscriptions Newsletters Sign in US[ ] * US edition * UK edition * Australia edition * Europe edition * International edition The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian [ ] * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle Show moreHide expanded menu * [ ]News + View all News + US news + US elections 2024 + World news + Environment + Ukraine + Soccer + Business + Tech + Science + Newsletters + Wellness * [ ]Opinion + View all Opinion + The Guardian view + Columnists + Letters + Opinion videos + Cartoons * [ ]Sport + View all Sport + Soccer + NFL + Tennis + MLB + MLS + NBA + NHL + F1 + Golf * [ ]Culture + View all Culture + Film + Books + Music + Art & design + TV & radio + Stage + Classical + Games * [ ]Lifestyle + View all Lifestyle + Wellness + Fashion + Food + Recipes + Love & sex + Home & garden + Health & fitness + Family + Travel + Money * Search input [ ] google-search Search + Support us + Print subscriptions * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Licensing + About Us + The Guardian app + Video + Podcasts + Pictures + Inside the Guardian + Guardian Weekly + Crosswords + Wordiply + Corrections * Search input [ ] google-search Search + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Licensing + About Us * Environment * Climate crisis * Wildlife * Energy * Pollution * Green light sheep with curled horns resting in snow [ ] Marco Polo sheep are the largest in the world, can weigh 300lb and have curled horns up to 5ft long. Photograph: Beth Wald/Cavan Images/ Alamy View image in fullscreen Marco Polo sheep are the largest in the world, can weigh 300lb and have curled horns up to 5ft long. Photograph: Beth Wald/Cavan Images/ Alamy Montana US man, 81, sentenced to six months for creating giant hybrid sheep for hunting Arthur Schubarth of Montana used tissue and testicles from Marco Polo sheep to clone animal and create hybrid Associated Press Tue 1 Oct 2024 08.41 EDTLast modified on Tue 1 Oct 2024 15.43 EDT Share An 81-year-old Montana man was sentenced on Monday to six months in federal prison for illegally using tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in central Asia and the US to create hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunting in Texas and Minnesota. The US district court judge Brian Morris said he struggled to come up with a sentence for Arthur "Jack" Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana. He said he weighed Schubarth's age and lack of a criminal record with a sentence that would deter anyone else from trying to "change the genetic makeup of the creatures" on the Earth. Morris also fined Schubarth $20,000 and ordered him to make a $4,000 payment to the US Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Schubarth will be allowed to self-report to a federal bureau of prisons medical facility. "I will have to work the rest of my life to repair everything I've done," Schubarth told the judge just before sentencing. Schubarth's attorney, Jason Holden, said cloning the giant Marco Polo sheep hunted in Kyrgyzstan in 2013 has ruined his client's "life, reputation and family". "I think this has broken him," Holden said. Holden, in seeking a probationary sentence, argued that Schubarth was a hard-working man who has always cared for animals and did something that no one else could have done in cloning the giant sheep, which he named Montana Mountain King - or MMK. The animal has been confiscated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and is being held in an accredited facility until it can be transferred to a zoo, said Richard Bare, a special agent with the wildlife service. Sarah Brown, an attorney with the US Department of Justice, had asked that Schubarth be sentenced to prison, saying his illegal breeding operation was widespread, involved other states and endangered the health of other wildlife. The crime involved forethought, was complex and involved many illegal acts, she said. Schubarth owns Sun River Enterprises LLC, a 215-acre (87-hectare) alternative livestock ranch, which buys, sells and breeds "alternative livestock" such as mountain sheep, mountain goats and ungulates, primarily for private hunting preserves, where people shoot captive trophy game animals for a fee, prosecutors said. He had been in the game farm business since 1987, Schubarth said. Schubarth pleaded guilty in March to charges that he and five other people conspired to use tissue from a Marco Polo sheep illegally brought into the US to clone that animal and then use the clone and its descendants to create a larger, hybrid species of sheep that would be more valuable for captive hunting operations. Marco Polo sheep are the largest in the world, can weigh 300lb (136kg) and have curled horns up to 5ft (1.5 meters) long, court records said. 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