Federal Case Involves Cloning Of A Marco Polo Sheep

A Montana man has been charged with trafficking and conspiracy under federal law for cloning a Marco Polo sheep as well as breeding and selling its offspring and DNA across several states.

Marco Polo sheep inhabit Central Asia’s Pamir Mountains in nations such as Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan and can only be imported as trophies with strict permitting.

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This includes a Convention On the Trade Of Endangered Species (CITES) export permit from the country in which it was harvested in addition to a permit from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) for import, possession, and other uses.

The defendant, Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, entered into a plea agreement with federal officials for one count of Lacey Act trafficking and one count of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act.

The Lacey Act, according to Forest Legality was initially enacted in 1900, is a United States law that bans trafficking in fish, wildlife, or plants that are illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold.

Schubarth and five others labeled in court documents as Persons A-E by federal officials, were allegedly involved in various activities. Three persons are from Texas, one from Montana, and another from Minnesota.

Court papers cite the following claims:

*On or about January 25, 2013, Person A entered the United States with biological tissue from a Marco Polo argali sheep that had been hunted in Kyrgyzstan. Person A did not declare the animal parts upon entry.

*On or about January 31, 2013, Schubarth entered into a “Cell Storage Agreement” with a corporation for storage and preservation of the above-referenced tissue from a male “Marco Polo” sheep named “Rocky.”

*On or about October 6, 2015, Schubarth entered into an “Ovine Cloning Contract” to clone an unspecified number of Marco Polo sheep from the tissue. He provided a deposit of $4,200 for the cloning.

* On or about November 22, 2016, Schubarth received 165 cloned Marco Polo embryos at the Schubarth Ranch.

 *On or about May 15, 2017, a pure Marco Polo argali sheep male was born from the cloned embryos, which Schubarth named “Montana Mountain King.”

*Starting in 2018 at the latest, Schubarth harvested semen from MMK in order to inseminate ewes via LAP-AI to create Marco Polo argali hybrid offspring.

Other notes from the case involved allegations of sending semen straws from MMK to Texas as well as transferring its offspring to Texas.

Upon sending a list of questions about the case to the Department of Justice, one of their public affairs specialists replied, “Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing nature of the case, we don’t have any comment to pass along at this time.”

The cloning of the Marco Polo sheep, also known as the Pamir argali from an as yet undisclosed piece of tissue,  represents a significant advancement in cloning technology and accessibility since the successful cloning of Dolly the Sheep, the world’s first cloned mammal  in 1996

This is the first significant case involving wildlife cloning, and it has potentially large implications across several areas of the wildlife industry.

Chester Moore