An uncontrolled sheep roaming the regional Australia has been torn apart with its 35kg fleece, an even heavier weight than the famous New Zealand Shrek sheep, which was caught in 2005 after six years in the wild. .
The merino bouquet, christened as Baarack by rescuers, was discovered wandering alone in an extraordinarily covered wool coat and quickly dodged to save his life.
Kyle Behrend, of the Edgar’s Mission farm sanctuary, told Reuters it looked like Baarack was “once a sheep owner” who had escaped. Merino sheep do not shed their fleece and must be plucked at least annually as their wool continues to grow.
The hirsute sheep was found near Lancefield, Victoria, and rescuers said it had “had an existence” by eating small sprouts of grass.
“At one point he had been marked with his ears, but it looks like these have been ripped off by the thick matte velvet that surrounded his face,” Behrend said. “It simply came to our notice then. He had little weight and, because of all the wool he had around his face, he could barely see. “
Baarack is the latest in a long line of very large sheep and woolers to make international headlines.
In 2005, Shrek became a beloved celebrity in New Zealand after spending six years avoiding capture and growing to a huge size.
VERY LARGE SHEEP
He finally got rid of his 27kg fleece and even met New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark before she died in 2011.
A 2014 Guardian Australia analysis estimated that Shrek fleece could be used to produce 47.3 bridges.
Based on a 70% performance assumption, Baarack fleece would be the equivalent of 61.3 wool sweaters, or 490 pairs of men’s business socks.
Shrek’s legacy lives on in his home country, with TVNZ announcing Baarack’s discovery with the headline: “Lost Australian sheep remind us of our own Shrek.”
In 2014, in New Zealand, another escaped merino meat was found, called the Shaun sheep, with a 23.5 kg fleece.
And last year in Australia, an escaped sheep, eventually named Ewenice, was relieved of its 20kg fleece after being discovered in central Victoria.
But all the sheep, including Baarack, are still pale compared to Chris, a Canberra ram who found himself in 2005 with a world record of 41 kg of fleece, twice his body weight.
Chris’s fleece was donated to the National Museum of Australia, where it is in a large display case. The relieved sheep was adopted to live comfortably in a sanctuary until she died in 2019.
Behrend said Baarack had adapted well to his new weight and was settling with other sheep on the farm.