Story highlights Sheep, dubbed "Chris," was found wandering in wild under immense fleece

The final 47 centimeter fleece weighed in at a record 40.45 kilograms (89 pounds)

(CNN) An Australian champion sheep shearer has set an unofficial world record after clipping a sheep that had become so overgrown its life was endangered.

The gigantic sheep, named "Chris" by a member of the public who found it just outside Australia's capital, Canberra, could barely walk when it was found.

Shearer Ian Elkins volunteered to shear the mammoth creature, which had to be sedated throughout the operation, after being contacted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Australia.

Chris the sheep as seen in the wild, in the Mulligans Flats area near the NSW-ACT border, Australia.

He took 42 minutes to remove the 47 centimeter (18 inch) fleece, which the RSPCA said weighed 40.45 kilograms (89 pounds).

It easily beat the 27 kilogram (60 pound) fleece previously shorn from a New Zealand sheep, known as " Shrek ."

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