Unshorn sheep struggle to walk under the immense weight of their wool, and without a haircut at least once a year most will not last long in the wild.
This recent undated handout photo received from Edgar’s Mission on 25 February 2021 shows ‘Baarack’, a wild sheep who was found wandering the wilderness of the Australian bush with a huge 35kg coat after an estimated five years of unchecked growth, at Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary in Lancefield, Victoria state. Picture: Edgars Mission/AFP
Melbourne – A wild sheep found wandering the wilderness of the Australian bush has been sheared of a huge 35kg coat after an estimated five years of unchecked growth.
Struggling under a filthy fleece caked with years of mud and tangled debris, Baarack was spotted in a Victorian state forest and taken to an animal rescue sanctuary north of Melbourne, the group said on Facebook earlier this month.
“I couldn’t believe there was actually a sheep alive under all of that wool,” Pam Ahern, founder of Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary, told Nine News.
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- This recent undated handout photo received from Edgar’s Mission on 25 February 2021 shows ‘Baarack’, a wild sheep who was found wandering the wilderness of the Australian bush with a huge 35kg coat after an estimated five years of unchecked growth, at Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary in Lancefield, Victoria state. Picture: Edgars Mission/AFP
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- Baarack. Picture: Edgars Mission/AFP
The sheep’s matted coat had been growing uncut for close to five years, Ahern estimated.
“I think he has been a cheeky little rascal of a young lamb who’s just wandered off and never came back.”
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Unshorn sheep struggle to walk under the immense weight of their wool, and without a haircut at least once a year most will not last long in the wild, particularly in Australia’s often harsh and dry summers.
Despite Baarack’s hefty locks, he falls short of the world record held by a late compatriot, Chris, who made headlines when he was shorn of a 41kg mane in 2015.
Baarack’s transformation from hulking mass to fresh faced has nevertheless given him a new fleece of life, with his overhaul racking up millions of views on TikTok.
AFP
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