Canterbury sheep Burt is more popular than ewe

Burt the sheep has won the hearts of his owners. Photo / Supplied

By Maja Burry of RNZ

A Canterbury sheep called Burt has shot to TikTok fame, with one of the two-year-old Romney's latest videos amassing over seven million views.

Burt lives on a farm in Port Levy on the Banks Peninsula, where owner Naomi Abraham started posting funny videos of him during lockdown last year.

Abraham said Burt was a very special sheep whom she had raised since he was a lamb.

"My partner Tom works on the farm we live on and he brought him [Burt] to me one day because he had lost his mum and all the other lambs had already left the farm and there was this little newborn just floating around with no home to go to," Abraham said.

When Burt started doing funny, quirky things, such as acting like a dog, she started filming him.

Burt's TikTok profile now includes videos of him frolicking through the house, sleeping on the couch in front of the fire and getting into the neighbour's rose garden.

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A post shared by BURT (@burt_chop)

"My sister told me I should start him his own TikTok ... I did and it went a bit crazy."

The secret to Burt's success was partly down to the fact that people were not used to seeing sheep hanging around the house, but his personality was also a major factor, Abraham said.

"Burt's also quite a character, I live on a farm with a lot of sheep, but there's something different about Burt."

During the recent drought in the area, Burt's social media presence declined because he had to be shifted to a paddock further away to ensure he could get enough food, she said.

"Now that it has started raining again, we've brought Burt closer to the house again ... so I just started re-engaging with his followers again, and his most recent video just went crazy."

She hoped some of his future work on social media could help promote the wool industry.

Naomi Abraham said Burt was a very special sheep whom she had raised since he was a lamb. Photo - Supplied / Naomi Abraham

"Apart from that it's just about making people laugh, I love sharing Burt with the world, and I'm glad people enjoy him and love him as much as I do."

- RNZ