Lost sheep in baaaaaad need of a haircut is named world’s woolliest

About 40kg (88 lb) of wool has been sheared from a sheep found near Australia’s capital, the RSPCA said on Thursday, making him unofficially the world’s woolliest. The merino, named Chris by his rescuers, was discovered on the northern outskirts of Canberra on Wednesday and was said to be struggling to walk under the weight of his coat. The wool 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”. He said it would normally take him three minutes to shear a sheep.

Chris had more than five years of wool on him and likely little contact with humans.

Tammy Ven Dange, RSPCA chief executive

The 40.2kg of wool removed from Chris mean that he was unofficially the carrier of the world’s heaviest fleece, possibly shattering the current record set by New Zealand sheep Big Ben, found to be carrying nearly 29kg of wool in 2014. 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.

We set the sheep on its back and because it had so much fleece underneath, it was very comfortable. I’m sure it was very, very relieved after all that fleece came off

Shearer Ian Elkins

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