Emmanuel Mudau, of Mathuba Genetics in Limpopo, had his first brush with genetics during his childhood when he bred and reared pigeons as a hobby. Deliberate selection for colour traits in the birds gave Emmanuel an early opportunity to experiment with genetics. Years later, in 2016, Emmanuel joined a group of three other farmers and they started a genetics project breeding what became the Bosvelder sheep. He is the former founding deputy president of the Indigenous Veld Goat Breeders Society and the current founding deputy president of the Bosvelder Sheep Breeders Society.