As reported by the Daily Montanan an 80-year-old farmer from Montana, Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, has pleaded guilty to federal charges for violating the Lacey Act, which prohibits the sale, transportation and purchase of wild animals between American states.
In 2013, Schubarth illegally brought part of an argali sheep which had been killed in the Kyrgyz mountains into the U.S. and paid a laboratory to create cloned embryos from the animal’s DNA. The embryos were then implanted into sheep on his farm and in time, he succeeded in raising a genetically pure argali, which he named Montana’s Mountain King. Used to impregnate other sheep, the ram’s sperm produced fairly large hybrids.
In a statement to the paper, assistant U.S. Attorney General Todd Kim said, “It was a bold plan to create large hybrids of sheep for sale and hunting as trophies… By implementing this scheme, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, which protect the viability and health of local animal populations,”
According to investigators, Schubarth conspired with five individuals to sell hybrid offspring to Texas and Minnesota under the guise of domestic sheep from New Mexico. The sheep hybrids led to healthy profits in the field of hunting. In 2020, a farmer sold one of Mountain King’s sons and 11 sheep containing a quarter of his genetics for $23,000 after obtaining a fake export license. The plea agreement states that the market value of all such sheep sold by Schubarth reached half a million dollars.
The Argali, also known as a Marco Polo, is the largest ram on earth. Reaching up to two meters in length, with a height at the withers of 120 centimetres, an adult can weigh 180 kilograms. The breed is also valued for its large, curled horns and in Kyrgyzstan, is protected as an endangered species. However, once a year, authorities issue about 70-80 licenses to cull the population; an activity popular with foreign hunters and a lucrative source of income for the state. Whilst the fine for illegal killing of an argali is around $15,000, the official rate charged to licenced hunters is around $10,000.
Speaking to the Times of Central Asia, Askar Davletbayev, an ecologist with the Kyrgyz National Academy of Sciences, stated, “According to the law, one percent of the total argali population can be shot but we try to shoot no more than 0.5 percent. According to the data, there are now about 19,000 of these animals in the country. Since the situation isn’t critical, the current level of hunting can be maintained.”
During the autumn hunting season, many argali living on the Sarychat-Ertash Nature Reserve in the Issyk-Kul region migrate to areas around the nearby Kumtor gold mine. Scientists explain this as a way in which the animals try to protect themselves from both hunters and predators. Because the gold mine’s territory cannot be accessed without approval, hunting is forbidden. Furthermore, since the local dump provides ample food for predators, the argali are left in peace.
On more than one occasion, deputies in parliament have raised the issue of banning hunting of the red-listed animal, but the practice of heavily regulated hunting remains in place.
