These huge sheep, sold for up to $10,000 each, fetched higher prices in the game market. AdvertisementA Montana rancher, who pleaded guilty to two wildlife-related felonies, tried to illegally breed a "giant hybrid sheep" species for higher returns in the hunting market, the Justice Department said. Schubarth bred his offshoot species from a single male argali sheep he kept at his ranch and called the "Montana Mountain King," prosecutors said. The rancher brought the "Montana Mountain King" to his property in Montana despite knowing he was breaking state animal trafficking laws, per court documents. He then extracted semen from the "Montana Mountain King," using it to inseminate dozens of ewes of different species, prosecutors said.

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Persons: Arthur Schubarth, —, Arthur, Jack, Schubarth, Marco, It's, argali, Prosecutors, Lacey, Ron Howell Organizations: Service, Justice Department, Central Asia, DOJ, Rocky, Business, Wildlife, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Locations: Montana, Central, Kyrgyzstan