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The animal, 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.
Tammy Ven Dange, chief executive of RSPCA ACT, the Canberra
division of the animal charity, estimated Chris had more than
five years of wool on him and likely little contact with humans.
The 40.2 kilos 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 29 kilograms 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.
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Joseph Radford)
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