A lost sheep found in the Australian scrubland has set a new unofficial world record after it five shearers teamed up to remove 89 pounds (40 kilograms) worth of wool—equal to about half of its body weight and enough for 30 sweaters—from the overgrown wild merino ram.
According to BBC News and Associated Press (AP) reports, the sheep, affectionately known as Chris, was rescued by officials from the Canberra chapter of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), who determined that the creature faced serious health issues or even death because it had become so excessively wooly during its time in the wild. He was named in honor of a sheep in the “Father Ted” TV sitcom, the AP said.
Canberra RSPCA chief executive Tammy Ven Dange told reporters that she hoped to register the fleece with the Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest wool haul ever collected as part of a single sheering. The current record of 60.5 pounds (27 kilograms) is held by a New Zealand ram named Shrek, which had spent six years in hiding before being clipped in 2004.
Removing the massive amounts of wool was said to be a delicate operation that required Chris to be sedated, but Ven Dange told the AP that the ram was doing well. “He’s looking really good, he looks like a new man,” she said. “For one thing, he’s only half the weight he used to be.”
Chris is feeling better
Chris was discovered near the Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary outside Canberra by a group of bushwalkers who said they were afraid he would not be able to survive the upcoming summer heat.
On Wednesday, Chris was rescued by the RSPCA transported to Canberra, where he was shorn under anesthetic due to his stress over exposure to humans and the potential pain caused by the heavy wool tearing skin as it was cut off. Ven Dange said that urine trapped in his fleece led to skin burns, and that the ram could have died in weeks had it not been found.
“When we first brought him in yesterday, he was really shy, he was shaking, he would move his head away from people and he could barely get up and walk,” the RSPCA official said to the AP. “The drugs might be wearing off right now, but he’s actually coming to you and actually wants a pat. He’s certainly moving a heck of a lot better,” she added.
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Feature Image: CNN/YouTube
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