JUST in time for Father's Day, Tasmania's famous ram - Shaun the Sheep - has become a surrogate father.
Owners Peter and Netty Hazel said Shaun's girlfriend - Prue the Ewe - had given birth to twins, with the ram becoming extremely protective of his surrogate offspring.
After six years on the lam, the ram’s talent for evading attention backfired last month, with “world’s woolliest” Shaun gracing websites around the world.
Woolly walkabout wows the world wide web
The Hazells found the woolly wonder in scrublands at their Stonehenge property near Oatlands, carrying a coat about half a metre thick. They spoke to the previous landowners, who said the ram was most likely one of theirs.
"They had a fire on their property when they lost quite a few animals," Mrs Hazell said.
"They were pretty certain he was one of those that never returned."
With the wool literally pulled over his eyes when he was found, the Hazells were amazed the resourceful ram survived on his own for so long without suffering flystrike, heat stroke or blindness. Blessed not only with health but also a surprisingly good quality fleece, Mr Hazell speculated that hiding amongst the trees had helped protect Shaun’s coat from yellowing or matting.
Shaun’s tale of survival has been globally reported from New York to London, and the Hazells had hoped his fleece would net them a world record.
However, at 23.5kg, Shaun came in well under the record for heaviest fleece set in 2004 by a New Zealand sheep known as Shrek (thanks to a proclivity for hiding in caves), who produced 27kg of wool when clipped.
NZ site www.stuff.co.nz wryly noted: "Not content with claiming the pavlova and Phar Lap, our friends across the ditch have attempted to claim the record for the world's woolliest sheep off Shrek".
Shaun was prepped for the potential shock of shearing with a higher than usual standard of TLC. He was been partnered with family pet Prue the ewe for comfort, and now will be fitted with a coat against the cold weather post-shearing, Mr Hazell said.
“It's the heaviest sheep I've ever lifted,” Mrs Hazell said. “There's three or four good jumpers in there.”