An overgrown Merino sheep found roaming in a forest near Melbourne, Australia has been shorn of its 35kg fleece.
Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary shared a video of the ram's transformation on TikTok, which has gained over 18 million views.
The animal, named 'Baarack' by his rescuers, was spotted in the wild by a member of public.
Kyle Behrend, who works at the sanctuary, told Reuters that Barrack was once an owned sheep as he had been ear-tagged.
“He had at one time been ear-tagged, however these appear to have been torn out by the thick, matted fleece around his face.
“He 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.”
He added: “Sheep need to be shorn at least annually otherwise the fleece continues to grow and grow, as happened here.”
Staff at the sanctuary gave the sheep the long-overdue shearing and found the fleece weighed 35.4 kilograms.
But despite Baarack's heavy fleece, he was actually underweight after being sheared, the sanctuary said.
