In 1946 a breed project was finalized at the Grootfontein College of Agriculture in South Africa to develop a new breed from the Dorset Horn and the Blackhead Persian. The breed proved so successful that the South African Dorper Sheep Breeders' Society was formed in 1950. The Dorper sheep is now the second most numerous sheep breed in South Africa because of its ability to produce a high quality meat under both intensive and extensive conditions. The sheep have spread to Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana, and Saudi Arabia and, in 1995, to the United States.