June 17 will tell whether Shrek, New Zealand’s most famous merino, will be preserved for posterity as an icon to be exhibited at Te Papa National Museum in Wellington.
Shrek, who was put down June 6, shot to fame when he was found hiding in a mountain cave. He had been missing for six years and sported a fleece that weighed around 27 kgs—enough to make 20 men’s woollen suits, according to sciencenewsblog.com.
Dreamworks, the Hollywood film studio that owns the animated Shrek trademark, has agreed to allow the brand to be used by Shrek’s owner John Perriam on condition that Te Papa agrees to exhibit the austere woolly animal at the museum.
Found in 2004 on the side of a rocky hill near his home at Bendigo Station, Southland, the newly shorn Shrek televised live caught the imagination of millions around the world who watched the shearing blades clip through a six-year-growth of matted wool.
Two years on, Shrek again reached an international audience in 2006 when he was shorn atop a floating iceberg off the South Island coast of New Zealand.
He since became a national icon, and over ensuing years could command $16,000 an appearance while raising research funds for his chosen charity, Cure Kids. As ambassador, Shrek has raised more than $170,000 in the last seven years.
Mr Perriam and Cure Kids director Josie Spillane appeared on TV One’s Close Up on the day Shrek was put down, to talk about the 16-year-old wether’s last days. [A wether is a castrated ram.]
Shrek, who was put down June 6, shot to fame when he was found hiding in a mountain cave. He had been missing for six years and sported a fleece that weighed around 27 kgs—enough to make 20 men’s woollen suits, according to sciencenewsblog.com.
Dreamworks, the Hollywood film studio that owns the animated Shrek trademark, has agreed to allow the brand to be used by Shrek’s owner John Perriam on condition that Te Papa agrees to exhibit the austere woolly animal at the museum.
Found in 2004 on the side of a rocky hill near his home at Bendigo Station, Southland, the newly shorn Shrek televised live caught the imagination of millions around the world who watched the shearing blades clip through a six-year-growth of matted wool.
Two years on, Shrek again reached an international audience in 2006 when he was shorn atop a floating iceberg off the South Island coast of New Zealand.
He since became a national icon, and over ensuing years could command $16,000 an appearance while raising research funds for his chosen charity, Cure Kids. As ambassador, Shrek has raised more than $170,000 in the last seven years.
Mr Perriam and Cure Kids director Josie Spillane appeared on TV One’s Close Up on the day Shrek was put down, to talk about the 16-year-old wether’s last days. [A wether is a castrated ram.]
