Fittingly, the retirement of the former hermit turned jet-setting celebrity was announced at the Auckland Sky Tower yesterday, after Shrek was shorn for the third and most likely last time in the name of charity.
"He has earned a break," owner John Perriam, of Bendigo Station, said.
Shrek will retire to his own complex, equipped with veranda, office and showrooms, before moving to the House of Shrek museum in Tarras in the New Year. From a textile point of view, Shrek was probably one of the most worthless sheep in the country, but had brought New Zealand valuable exposure.
"A man from Saatchi told us that the exposure about Shrek contributed $100 million to the economy."
Shrek fundraising had also contributed tens of thousands of dollars for the charity Cure Kids.
About 150 people - including a large media contingent - witnessed his third "haircut" yesterday. The 10.1kg clip was a far cry from his 2004 monster fleece of 27kg.
The celebrity sheep flew to Auckland in a commercial airliner, was driven around the city in a stretched Hummer and flown home in a private jet, but Shrek was unfazed.
"He slept the whole way home. I don't think he noticed a thing," Mr Perriam said.
Shrek had grown accustomed to the glare of celebrity status after fame came his way when he was finally discovered in 2004 after being missed in annual musters, but it was now time he was retired.
"He has more air points than most New Zealanders, but we think it is time he calls it a day and stays at home."
The Shrek story
• Evaded the annual Bendigo Station muster for six years.
• Caught on April 15, 2004, and shorn on national television.
• His first clip weighed 27kg.
• Former prime minister Helen Clark chose to meet Shrek and not protesters at Parliament, because Shrek was good company.
• Tarras School pupils wrote a book called Shrek The Famous Hermit Sheep Of Tarras.
• Shorn on an iceberg off the coast of Dunedin in November 2006
