This sheep’s transformation is un-baaa-lievable.
A dysfunctionally fluffy sheep in a forest outside of Melbourne, Australia, was totally overcome by the shear amount of wool on his body. But the monstrous fur ball — nicknamed Baarack — was saved from his woolly situation when rescuers shaved off his heavy load, which weighed in at more than 77 pounds.
Baarack was recently discovered by a random animal lover, who alerted Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary, located near Lancefield, Victoria, about 37 miles north of Melbourne. According to Reuters, the group went to work and gave the flocculent boy what was clearly his first shave in years.
“Sheep need to be shorn at least annually — otherwise, the fleece continues to grow and grow, as happened here,” sanctuary representative Kyle Behrend explained of the four bowling balls-worth of fleece they sheared off. He added that Baarack did at one time have an owner and had been tagged, but the tag was at some point “torn out by the thick, matted fleece around his face.”
Feral living wasn’t all bad for Baarack’s body, though.
“His hooves were in great condition from running over the rocks in the forest,” said Behrend. However, he added, the sheep still “was in a bit of a bad way. He was underweight and, due to all of the wool around his face, he could barely see.”
Baarack is transitioning well into his new shorn life, reportedly settling in alongside other rescued sheep at Edgar’s Mission. His ability to be so debilitatingly fleece-covered for so long, said Behrend, is ultimately a testament to the resilience of his species.
“All goes to show what incredibly resilient and brave animals sheep really are,” he said. “We could not love them any more if we tried.”
