Knickers, surrounded by a herd of wagyu cattle. AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

KNICKERS’ OWNERS KNEW that he’d be a big animal, but they didn’t realise exactly how big.

Over 6ft 4in tall and weighing 1,400kg, the seven-year-old steer drew attention after his owner couldn’t send him to be slaughtered because he’s too big (a steer is a male animal that has been neutered).

“He was unable to fit into the supply chain. So Knickers lives on,” owner Geoff Pearson told Australia’s Today Tonight. He’s also too big to sell.

So he’ll spend his time in the fields of Myalup in Western Australia with a herd of wagyu cattle, who “follow him everywhere”.

Meanwhile, Geoff has been incessantly contacted by reporters, the morning of his interview with the Guardian he was called every 10 minutes since 4am.

Although it’ll be hard for the Guinness World Record measurers to get close to Knickers to measure him (he’s not used to being handled), it’s thought that he’s just below the height of the world’s tallest cow, which measures at 6ft 5in.

But his owner reckons he’s taller than Australia’s record holder, measured at 6ft 2in.

Either way, he’s already famous. Media outlets including the BBC, CNN, the Guardian, and USA Today have covered the Dumbo-esque story. US model Chrissy Teigen even tweeted out about it: 

“Damn that is one huge cow. this is why I buy internet on flights. I almost saw that 6 hours after you guys did.”

And the name?

Knickers’ owner told the BBC: “When he was young, when we first got him, we had a Brahman steer [a breed of cattle] which was a friend of his. So his name was bra… so we [had] bra and knickers.

“We never thought he would turn into a big knickers.”