The saga of Jack Schubarth, an 82-year-old Montana rancher sentenced for cloning a protected Marco Polo argali sheep, reveals the precarious intersection of DIY bioengineering, wildlife trafficking, and the booming de-extinction industry. While startups like Colossal Biosciences secure billions to resurrect woolly mammoths and dire wolves with government backing, Schubarth’s case underscores the regulatory gray zones and ecological risks as genetic tinkering goes mainstream.