Forensic animal marking

An animal such as a sheep or cow 2 may labelled so that, if stolen or rustled, its identity or origin can be verified. A plurality of marker micro particles 1 may be used, may be of tabular form and a maximum diameter of 1.0 mm or less, may bear alpha numeric indicia or characters unique to the object or group of objects to be marked and may be hollow having apertures through them. The particles may be made of material of high melting point and having ferromagnetic properties, used bare or encapsulated in a marker pellet. Markers 1 or marker pellets may be emplaced on skin or fleece by spatula, spray, or be injected by hypodermic needle, or fired from a gun, such that the markers or the pellet penetrate the skin and lodge within the animal 2. If the animal object 2 is stolen, marker particles 1 that have dispersed into the body or carcass of the animal 2 may be collected and their indicia read by microscope, to provide forensic evidence of the provenance of the animal 2.