Cattle identification: the history of nose prints approach in brief

Abstract

Petersen was the first published paper to address cattle biometrics and identification problem by suggesting a permanent cattle identification method based on nose print principles widely accepted today. His major concern was on proper identification of cattle for registration and of cattle on an official test so that the possibility of swapping, false insurance claims, and ownership disputes can be guarded against. It was with this identification problem in the mind of every breeder that the practicable suggestion of using nose print as means of identification was made by O. H. Baker of the American Jersey Cattle Club in Petersen’s paper entitled “The identification of the bovine by means of nose-prints”. Before the advent of the nose print method, cattle identification has been by conventional constructs such as tattoo, tags, photographs, descriptions, branding (hot and freeze), ear notching, and sketching (drawings) the color markings on them on paper for registration and identification purposes. These classical methods of identification cause trouble among the breeders especially when their cattle are sold or are on an official test due to lack of artistic ability on the part of the breeders which makes the matching of the sketches and the markings on the cattle disagree. Presented in this paper are the various cattle biometrics and identification methods, most especially from the classical methods to the modern methods.