System of Livestock Identification

Donor: Czech Development Agency

Implementation period: 2010

Budget: approx. CZK 10 mil

In Mongolia there are about 42 million pieces of farm animals however, it is not for sure (but there are only about three million there). And it was one of the assignments of the project in which our team participated in the position of formulation of the project documentation. Mongolian farmers have great potential in the form of export of animals and a big problem with rising thefts of animals. Impossibility to identify the origin of the animal prevented this potential to be fulfilled and thefts to be stopped. In terms of the epidemiological it was necessary to verify whether the animals do not come from a region that are not free from dangerous infections such as foot and mouth disease.

These deficiencies should be resolved by the labeling system and central registration of animals. However, it represented quite a major organizational problem because as it is well known the Mongolian farmers migrate and take their flocks with them. Due to the non-existing infrastructure, animals are moved in case of sale "on the leg." Also, it is not entirely feasible to keep records "on paper" or on the computer and send protocols by email. The yurt is indeed very nice but the Internet or computers are usually not there. After long deliberations and discussions, a scheduled system that did not need the paper was planned. Labelling should be done by the district zootechnician and an electronic reader will scan a unique code of the animal. Instead of the number of the farm, the personal identification number of the owner had been chosen. The number of the farm and the number of the event (ie. birth, purchase, label etc...) was entered into the reader and codes of ear tags belonging to a particular change were uploaded. When the zootechnician got into the office in the district town, and if the Internet worked, he sent data gained in the terrain to the headquarters where they were loaded into the central register. One piece of tag of the animal (female) served as proof of ownership. This tag was during the sale passed to the new owner. Animal ID cards do not exist although developed breeders can order them because software of the readers and register allow it to generate.