Could You Believe The Wool On This Australian Sheep Is Equivalent To 30 Sweaters?

chris, before it been shorn

A lost, overgrown sheep found in Australian scrubland was shorn for perhaps the first time on Thursday, yielding 40 kilograms (89 pounds) of wool — the equivalent of 30 sweaters — and shedding almost half his body weight.

The most wool sheared from a sheep in a single shearing is 28.9 kilograms (63 pounds, 11 ounces) taken from a wild New Zealand merino dubbed Big Ben in January last year, the Guinness World Records website said.

"I don't reckon he's been shorn before and I reckon he'd be 5 or 6 years old," Elkins said.

“Chris” was found near Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary outside Canberra by bushwalkers who feared he would not survive the approaching southern summer. He was found several kilometers (miles) from the nearest sheep farm. A bushwalker named him Chris after the sheep in the "Father Ted" television comedy series.

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," she said.

"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.

She said Chris would be found a new home after vets gave him the all-clear.

Elkins said the fleece was too long to be sold commercially. He hoped it would end up in a museum.

"I wouldn't say it's high quality, but you wouldn't expect it to be running around in the bush that long unshorn," he said.

Chris, after its been shorn

 

Australian merinos are bred for wool and are shorn annually, with fleeces averaging about 5 kilograms (11 pounds).