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Livestock brands & ear tags: the Animal Identification Act explained

A plain-English guide to identifying your cattle, sheep, goats and pigs — and why it's worth getting right.

In South Africa, identifying your livestock isn't just good practice — it's the law. The Animal Identification Act requires owners of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs (and certain other animals) to mark them with a registered identification mark before they're moved off the farm or sold. That mark, together with your ear tags, is what proves an animal is yours.

What the Animal Identification Act expects

In short: you apply to register your own identification mark with the registrar, and you apply that mark to your animals. The mark is unique to you — the same mark goes on every animal you own, which is exactly why it works as proof of ownership. The way the mark is applied differs by species (for example, a branded or tattooed mark), and there are rules about when and how animals must be marked before they change hands.

Brand, tattoo, ear tag, EID — what's the difference?

• Registered mark (brand or tattoo) — your legal owner's mark. It's the same on every animal and is what authorities and buyers rely on to link an animal back to you.
• Visual ear tag — the printed number you read by eye, used day to day to tell individual animals apart.
• Electronic (RFID / EID) tag — a 15-digit electronic ear tag you scan with a reader. It makes capturing and finding an animal fast and error-free, and is increasingly used for traceability.

You don't have to choose one — they work together. The registered mark proves ownership; the ear tags identify the individual animal; and a good record ties them to the animal's full history.

Why it matters (beyond just being the law)

• Proof of ownership — essential if an animal is lost or stolen and you need the police to link it to you.
• Moving and selling stock — you generally can't legally move or sell unmarked animals, and the paperwork (like a §6/§8 removal certificate) depends on proper identification.
• Disease control & traceability — for FMD and other diseases, animals need to be traceable back to a farm.
• Auctions and abattoirs — they expect correctly identified animals with the paperwork to match.

Getting it right

• Register your mark with the registrar before you need it — don't leave it to sale day.
• Apply it correctly and consistently so it's legible and matches your records.
• Keep an animal register that ties your mark and each animal's ear tags to its breed, age, history and current camp — that's what turns identification into useful, provable records.

How KraalBook helps

KraalBook is built around South African identification. You set your registered brand mark once (using a visual picker based on the legal character chart), and it then prints on every animal fact sheet and §6/§8 document automatically. For each animal you capture its visual tag and its electronic (EID) tag — and you can scan RFID tags straight in with a reader. Everything is tied together in one register, so any animal's mark, tags and full history are a tap away. Related reading: how good records protect against stock theft and §6/§8 removal certificates explained.