The Sheep Who Grew 40kg of Wool

In August 2015, a personal trainer walking on the outskirts of northern Canberra spotted something strange in a paddock near Mulligans Flat. It looked like a boulder with legs - a Merino ram so covered in wool that he could barely move. She called the RSPCA. They called a champion shearer. The rest became a Guinness World Record.

Five Years in the Wild

The sheep, later named Chris, had been wandering unshorn for more than five years.

Merino sheep are bred to grow wool continuously and, unlike their wild relatives, cannot shed it on their own. Without annual shearing, the fleece keeps building - compressing, matting, and growing heavier with every season.

By the time the RSPCA found Chris, his fleece weighed more than 40 kilograms (89 lb) and had grown to 42 centimetres in staple length. He could barely stand. Vets were uncertain whether he would survive the shearing itself.

The Rescue

Five RSPCA ACT staff members, led by Senior Inspector Catherine Croatto, were needed just to bring Chris in. He was transported to the RSPCA's Weston shelter for veterinary assessment before a shearer could be brought in.

The RSPCA put out an urgent call. Ian Elkins - a four-time Australian Shearing Championship winner - volunteered. It took him 42 minutes to remove the fleece, compared to a few minutes for a typical sheep.

When it was over, Chris had shed more than 40 kilograms of wool - enough to knit roughly 30 sweaters.

A World Record and a New Home

Guinness World Records confirmed the fleece as the heaviest ever removed from a single sheep in one shearing - surpassing all previous records, including the 27 kilograms famously carried by Shrek, a New Zealand sheep who hid in a cave for six years, and a more recent 28.9-kilogram record set in 2014.

Chris's fleece was donated to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, where curators say it draws more visitors than nearly any other exhibit, second only to the preserved heart of legendary racehorse Phar Lap.

What Happened to Chris

Chris was adopted by the Little Oak Sanctuary in New South Wales, where he spent his remaining years becoming gradually more confident around people and, reportedly, quite fond of head scratches.

He died in October 2019 at the age of nine - a normal lifespan for a Merino - having fully recovered from the rescue and lived comfortably for four more years.

The wool that nearly killed him is now behind glass in a museum, drawing crowds year after year.