Eli5: why do sheep need to be sheared ?

Question

I see these fun videos of people shearing sheep and talking about how it needs to be done and I grew up on a farm and sheared sheep but why do we actually need to do that like in the wild there is nobody shearing them ?

What happens to sheeps in the wild?

In: 7

Answer 1

“Wild” sheep don’t really exist anymore, but when they did, they shed their coat regularly to avoid overheating in the summer. Domestic sheep don’t shed, so if they escape their pen, then there is a good chance they will die of heat exhaustion in the summer after a couple of years without shearing.