Rebel ram shorn: press flock

A hermit sheep that managed to evade the shears for six years has become a surprise international media celebrity, featuring on news sites from Tahiti to China.

The unlikely hero is a nine-year old Merino sheep nicknamed Shrek who had escaped annual musters by hiding in a cave. Shrek was finally caught on 19 April and his enormous fleece - weighing 27kg - was eventually shorn on prime-time national and international TV.

News organisations around the world 'flocked' to the tiny New Zealand town of Cromwell to film the celebrity sheep. The story was covered around the world from North America to the Far East including Tahiti1.com, CNN.com, Economist.com, TelegraphIndia.com and South Africa's Independent Online.

Neil Pharazyn, spokesperson for New-Zealand based ratings service Newsknife, said the Shrek phenomenon is just harmless fun.

"Quirky stories always go world wide," he told dotJournalism.

"I remember last year on Elvis' anniversary a man in Wellington made a large public mural of Elvis - out of toast.

"Reuters picked it up and it went worldwide."

Sheep station owner John Perriam has been quick to harness publicity from Shrek's story and is donating profits from the sale of the fleece to a children's charity. The public can bid for 500 boxes of strands of fleece and two tops made from the wool on ShrekAuction.co.nz until 1 May.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on 28 April, Mr Perriam said that Shrek has gained celebrity status around the world.

"I don't think he was trying to avoid being shorn, but his personality is coming through now that we've started handling him," he said.

"He just doesn't think he's a sheep. He's out there now in a paddock with photographers."

See also:
http://www.shrekauction.co.nz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/southlandtimes/0,2106,2891301a6011,00.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyID=3563369
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3665735.stm
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=29&art_id=vn20040423101342106C352581&set_id=1
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040429/asp/foreign/story_3185976.asp
http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/rupertsdiary/0,39020694,39152828,00.htm

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