Eight months after he was shorn, Twizel merino Big Ben (below right) was this week confirmed as having the heaviest fleece ever removed from a sheep - weighing in at 28.9kg, comfortably ahead of Shrek's decade-old, unofficial 27kg record.
Big Ben's owner Mike Lindsay, of Omahau Hill high country station, got official verification of the wool weight via an email from Guinness World Records in London.
Big Ben was one of four sheep (pictured), estimated to be aged about 7, who had evaded muster for years by escaping into ''retired'' Department of Conservation land.
When the renegades were seen in a ''reasonably handy position'' in January, Mr Lindsay and his son-in-law decided to go after them.
''It wasn't until we actually caught them that we thought, hell, they were such magnificent sheep. The wool on some of them, truly, it was half a metre long in the fibre.''
Knowing the station could have a world record on its hands, the woolly wethers were de-fleeced under ''terribly strict criteria'' which included having certified scales, ''top-rate'' shearers and a vet present.
While Big Ben was now ''out in the paddock there ... quite happy'', he and his fugitive friends were initially slow to reintegrate with the flock.
''They always stuck in a little group on their own.''
Mr Lindsay hoped Big Ben and his famed fleece might emulate the fundraising efforts of the late Shrek by helping to generate cash for a new $2 million medical centre in Twizel.
''If someone would like to give us two or three hundred thousand dollars for the fleece we'd just about have the $2 million.''
Shrek's record was challenged last month by Tasmanian sheep Shaun, who fell short of the record with a 23.5kg fleece, while the 27.53kg fleece taken from New South Wales sheep Samson is yet to be verified.
While other claims had come and gone, ''We always felt that Shrek was the record to beat, even if it was unofficial'', Mr Lindsay said.
''Shrek, he is a bit of a legend ...
I'm certainly not trying to take anything away from what they've done with Shrek. It's marvellous.''
Shrek's owner John Perriam, of Bendigo Station, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
