Feds Bust 81-Year-Old Man For Cloning Gigantic Sheep to Hunt in Texas

Well, here's something you don't see every day...

An elderly man has been sentenced to federal prison for cloning sheep to hunt in Texas.

One Sheep, Two Sheep.....

According to the Dallas News, 81-year-old Arthur "Jack" Schubarth landed in hot water when he illegally used tissue from a species found in Central Asia to create a gigantic hybrid sheep through cloning.

Schubarth provided his enormous cloned "monster sheep" to ranches in Texas and Minnesota for captive trophy hunting.

A federal judge ordered the elderly man to serve six months in federal prison and to pay a fine of $20,000. The judge also ordered him to make a $4,000 payment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Big Sheep, Not-Little Sheep

The tissue used to clone the massive animal came from the world's largest species of sheep, the Marco Polo sheep. Schubarth had bagged one on a trophy hunting excursion in Kyrgyzstan in 2013. The tissue used in cloning the his hybrid was harvested from the sheep's testicles during that hunt. 

He called his cloned hybrid creation "Montana Mountain King" sheep. Court records show that Schubarth was able to sell a single MMK sheep for $10,000.

One of his giant sheep is currently at an accredited facility and will eventually be transferred to a zoo.

Feds Warn Against Playing God

So, how truly bad was what Schubarth did? The U.S. Department of Justice attorney Sarah Brown says that Schubarth's illegal breeding operation endangered the health of other wildlife, was widespread and complex, and involved many unlawful acts.

After his 6-month sentence, Schubarth will remain on probation for three years.

He seems remorseful and told The Dallas News,

"I got my normal mindset clouded by my enthusiasm and looked for any grey area in the law to make the best sheep I could for this sheep industry..."