Sheep do not normally make news, but video of a sheep with a huge amount of hair in Australia has been popular on social media.
The sheep had gone wild years ago. A member of the public found him 60 kilometers north of Melbourne. The person contacted Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary near Lancefield, Victoria. The sanctuary rescues and takes care of animals that are lost or abandoned.
The rescuers named the sheep Baarack. Kyle Behrend is the communications manager at the Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary.
“It would appear Baarack was once an owned sheep,” said Behrend. He had belonged to an owner before since he had a mark on his ear called a tag, “however these appear to have been torn out by the thick fleece around his face.”
Sheep’s hair, called wool, needs to be cut every year, Behrend said. If it is not, the wool grows out of control and becomes very heavy. This was the first time that Baarack’s hair was cut, or shorn, in many years. Shearers removed 35 kilograms of wool from the sheep.
Behrend said, Baarack’s feet, or hooves, “were in great condition from running over the rocks in the forest. He was underweight, and due to all of the wool around his face he could barely see.”
Baarack is now settling in with other rescued sheep at the sanctuary, Behrend said. He added, “All goes to show what incredibly resilient and brave animals sheep really are and we could not love them any more if we tried.”
I’m Armen Kassabian.
Nur-Azna Sanusi from Reuters reported this story. Armen Kassabian adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.
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Words in This Story
sanctuary – n. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter
abandoned –adj. left by the owner; left without protection or care
fleece – n. the woolly coat of a sheep
shear – v. to cut off an animal's hair.
resilient – n. able to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens
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