Biometric identification of animals used to combat livestock theft

Biometric identification of animals will be used by Free State Agriculture to address livestock theft, through collaboration with ID-Scan.

Free State Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding with the chairman of the ID-Scan board, Bian Jooste, in Pretoria on 11 February 2025. Jooste explains that ID-Scan was developed due to the fact that “ear tags get lost, changed or cut out, but a nose print of a cow remains unique to the animal, just like a human fingerprint.”

Francois Wilken, President of Free State Agriculture, says that the organization is excited to join hands with ID-Scan to link the burden of proof of livestock ownership with a unique biometric nose print identification certificate of ID-Scan with FSA’s own AIMS (Animal Identification, Movement and Safety) system.

Free State Agriculture’s online AIMS system will link the unique biometric identity that ID-SCAN generates from a nose print with a unique ear tag number. “This will greatly assist with accurate and rapid visual or electronic identification of cattle for herd management, livestock theft identification or traceability,” says Wilken.

Every time a cattle’s QR code on the tag is scanned with the ID-Scan app on your smartphone, the date, time and location are recorded in the ID-Scan and AIMS databases. This opens up great opportunities for financing and insurance of cattle, and of course fits in with the national RMIS traceability system once the animal leaves the geofence of the farming unit.

ID-Scan is already linked to SA Stud Book and therefore the programs can automatically share the data with each other so that registered users only need to enter data once.

To register on AIMS and to order ear tags, go to https://aims.vslandbou.co.za/

Electronic (EID) or visual (VID) ear tags can be ordered. Dr Jack Armour, commercial manager of FSA, explains that EID ear tags are electronic ear tags that can be read with an RFID scanner or sensor on a scale. With VID ear tags, a QR code can be read with your cellphone to get the unique number of a cow on a management system.

To register on ID-Scan and download the app, visit https://idscan.co.za/ . “Our ultimate goal”, says Jooste, “is that we want the nose print to do for the livestock industry what the fingerprint has done for people in terms of the banking industry (financing), the insurance industry, crime prevention with the SAPS and trade (at auctions)”.