Monster Sheep Shorn In New Zealand

A merino sheep which managed to evade shearers for six years has finally been cornered and shorn in New Zealand.

The ten-year old merino known as Shrek, apparently hid himself at shearing time with the result that his coat continued to grow into a huge ball of matted wool and was reportedly 'unrecognisable as a sheep'.

The beast was finally shorn live on New Zealand television by a champion sheep clipper producing a fleece that weighed 59lb and was 15 inches thick. The wool is to be auctioned to raise money for a children's charity.

Meanwhile, to stop poor old Shrek catching a cold in the chill South Island winter, he has a rather natty new red coat rather fittingly sponsored by New Zealand brand Icebreaker, which specialises in, you guessed it, merino wool outdoor clothing.

Story with pic here on the Telegraph site. And in his new Icebreaker coat in The Times which rather amusingly refers to the coat as being 'blue' - doh.... he makes the Guardian too.

Merino wool, as used by the likes of Icebreaker, Smartwool, Odlo, Macpac and others is a great natural baselayer fabric. The ultra-fine fibres don't scratch and it is thermally effective in both cold and heat and has the bonus of not ponging with use either.

We reckon Shrek is going to make a lot of rather nice technical baselayers...