Is Chris the woolliest sheep?
Print Edition
A heavily overgrown sheep had its massive fleece shorn yesterday by an Australian national champion in a life-saving operation that animal welfare officers said may have set a new world record for a single shearing.
The merino sheep, named Chris by bushwalkers who spotted him wandering alone on the outskirts of Australia’s capital Canberra, was rescued by RSPCA officers on Wednesday and went under the cutters yesterday.
Some 40.45 kilograms of wool — the equivalent of 30 sweaters — was taken off in one large piece from the animal by Australian Shearers’ Hall of Famer Ian Elkins in a 42-minute process that he said was “certainly a challenge.”
“I’m sure it was very, very relieved after all that fleece came off. Sheep are shorn once every 12 months and the average fleece weight is five kilograms.”
The RSPCA in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which is taking care of Chris as he recuperates — including wearing a down coat to keep him warm, said they were delighted with the successful shearing.
Merino sheep are bred for their wool, which is used to produce high-end garments, and need to be shorn regularly to prevent serious health issues such as flystrike — where a coat becomes infected — and even death, said chief executive of RSPCA ACT, Tammy Ven Dange.
The RSPCA plans to get in touch with the Guinness World Records to see if Chris’s fleece might have set a new global best for the “most wool sheared from a sheep in a single shearing.”
The current record is held by Big Ben, which was shorn of 28.9kg in New Zealand in January last year. Big Ben dethroned fellow Kiwi Shrek, who gained national celebrity in his home nation, meeting then prime minister Helen Clark and becoming the subject of several children’s books before his death in 2011.
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