Champion Aussie shearer clips 40 kg of wool from lost merino sheep named Chris; Brit ram Derby gets promotion as lance corporal

Chris, a lost, overgrown Merino ram, possibly broke a world record for shorn wool. Champion shearer Ian Elkins clipped 40 kilogrammes of wool from Chris on Thursday.

The volume broke the 27 kilogrammes shorn in 2004 from Shrek, a New Zealand ram. The shorn wool from Chris could make 30 sweaters, reports Time. Chris was found in an Australian woodland and was described as the most overweight sheep in the country.

After the shearing session with Elkins, who used anaesthesia on the ram, Chris lost half of his body weight. Australian Capital Territory (ACT) RSPCA Chief Executive Tammy Ven Dange said the animal rights group wants to register the fleece harvest from Chris with the Guinness World Records.

Chris, now down to 44 kilogrammes, is staying at the Canberra animal refuge. Ven Denge describes the once-lost sheep as really good looking like a new man. He estimates Chris is about five or six years old and had its first wool cut.

Bushwalkers found the ram near Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary outside the Australian capital city. The bushwalkers informed the animal refuge about the overgrown sheep, concerned it might not survive the approaching summer with its overgrown wool cover.

ACT RSPCA rescued Chris – named by a bushwalker after a character in the “Father Ted” TV comedy show – on Wednesday. The animal had urine trapped in its fleece which burned the skin of Ven Denge. He estimated that Chris could have died within weeks if it was not rescued.

Being a wild ram, Chris was not used to humans. The stress of people around the sheep led Elkins to use anaesthesia on the animal while being shorn and also to protect Chris from potential pain.

However, the wool was too long to be sold commercially. Elkins says he hopes the fleece could be displayed in a museum. She said after vets give Chris clearance, ACT RSPCA would look for a new home for the ram. It sought donations to help care for Chris and 7,000 animals under its care. Donors from Australia who give at least $50 and international donors who give at least $100 would receive a “Chris the Sheep” plush toy as RSPCA’s expression of gratitude for the financial assistance.

Meanwhile, two days before Chris got his first shear, another sheep was the centre of attention on Tuesday in Britain. That’s because Derby, also a ram, was promoted to lance corporal in the Mercian Regiment during the Formation Day parade in Chester.

Mashable reports that the Swaledale ram – the 30^th in a long line of mascots – joined the unit in 2014 as a private. The promotion entitled Derby to wear a single stripe on its uniform. Derby, officially classified a soldier, was promoted for good behaviour.

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