It was shear bliss for this sheep when his 75-pound matted coat was removed – allowing him to see clearly for the first time in years.
Baarack, as he has been nicknamed, had been left to run wild for years and grew a massive coat of wool before he was rescued by an animal sanctuary.
Volunteers at Edgar’s Mission in Lancefield, Australia, predicted Baarack had at least five years’ worth of wool growth.
Baarack the sheep has been given back the power of sight after getting his first haircut in five years
Domestication and selective breeding mean many sheep no longer shed their coats naturally, requiring humans to shear them in order to remain healthy
The sheep had been left to run wild for years, and grew a massive 75-pound coat of wool before being rescued by an animal sanctuary
As well as giving him an unusually bulbous appearance, the matted mass of wool was also weighing the sheep down and obscuring his vision.
It took volunteers an hour to remove Baarack’s thick, tangled coat – a process which usually takes mere minutes.
The sheep is now recovering and adjusting to his new life at the sanctuary, where staff say he has been brought ‘Baarack from the brink’.
‘We couldn’t believe there was actually a sheep alive under all that wool,’ Edgar’s Mission wrote in a Facebook post.
As well as giving him an unusually bulbous appearance, the matted mass of wool was also weighing the sheep down and obscuring his vision
It took volunteers an hour to remove Baarack’s thick, tangled coat – a process which usually takes mere minutes
‘It was a struggle to comprehend that beneath that convoluted moving mass of matted fleece, adorned with countless sticks, twigs and insects, which caused his saviours to look twice, was not Australia’s answer to the yeti – but a sheep.’
Baarack was found earlier this month, wondering alone in bushland in Victoria, around 40 miles north of Melbourne, Australia.
Edgar’s Mission wrote: ‘Each day his wool grew longer and longer, and his plight more desperate, while his chances of survival grew thinner and thinner.
‘Many people do not realise that wool can easily morph into a cumbersome fleece that continues to grow throughout the life of a sheep.
‘The wild mouflon, from whom sheep are descended, had a naturally shedding, oft-times multi-coloured (great for camouflage) fleece.
‘This fleece grew and then shed according to the season – a great evolutionary adaption which served them well.
‘Then came domestication, and through selective breeding by humans, there are now many breeds of sheep who require annual shearing to ensure a good standard of welfare for these animals.
The sheep is now recovering and adjusting to his new life at the sanctuary, where staff say he has been brought ‘Baarack from the brink’
Baarack was found earlier this month, wondering alone in bushland in Victoria, around 40 miles north of Melbourne, Australia
‘Failure to do so results in sheep living at a great disadvantage, with often life-threatening consequences.
‘But Baarack knew none of this, for all he wanted to do was live. And, seizing each moment, he did.
‘Having endured such a state whilst the earth completed her orbit of the sun several times, Baarack had somehow eked out an existence.
‘He found nourishment in the tender shoots of grass that had determinedly made their way up through the forest floor, and seized opportunistic finds of water pooled in puddles to soothe his parched throat – such is the stoicism of sheep.
‘Now relieved of that fleece and its 35.4 kilos of burden, Baarack is indeed lighter in more ways than one.
‘No longer shall he struggle for food and shelter, no longer will he be at the mercy of predators or the elements, and no longer will he be forgotten.
‘A few shearing nicks now mark his thin body, along with an ulcer, the legacy of his once wool-blind state.
‘But of this will heal – and Baarack can now see the world more clearly.’