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Story: Sheep farming

Shrek the sheep

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Shrek the sheep

Musterer Daniel Devine carries Shrek, a Merino sheep that evaded shearers for six years in Central Otago. Shrek made international headlines in 2004 when he was finally caught and shorn of his massive 27-kilogram fleece. On high-country stations, where sheep are run on mountains and rugged hills, it is not unusual for some to be missed. When they are mustered the following year, they are known as double-fleecers. It is not unheard of for a sheep to miss three shearings, but to miss six is rare indeed.

Using this item

Otago Daily Times

Reference: 15 April 2004, p. 1

by Stephen Jaquiery

Permission of the Otago Daily Times must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Hugh Stringleman and Robert Peden, Sheep farming – The refrigerated meat trade, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/16641/shrek-the-sheep (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Hugh Stringleman and Robert Peden, published 1 March 2009, updated 1 March 2015.

Comments

Poul Autohjælp
18 November 2011
Hehe I remember back in 2004 when Shrek became famous - here in my town everybody talked about it! I'm a big fan :) Sadly, I remember all too well when he died this summer :/