Description of icons on the map

There are a bunch of different icons on the eShepherd Web App. Here is a description of their meaning.

Animal - Not in Mob

When the Animal icon has a single solid black line around it, it indicates a that the animal is within an active virtual paddock. The default colour of the icon is green.

Animal - In Mob

When the Animal is part of a Mob, then the icon will adopt the colour that has been chosen for that Mob. So all animal icons that belong to that mob will display the same colour. The default (initial) colour for Mobs is orange - unless the user has chosen a different colour.

Animal - no active virtual fence

When the Animal icon has a dashed border around it (that makes it look like a gear), it indicates that there is no active virtual paddock on that animal.

Animal - Selected by user

When the Animal icon has a pink or purple boundary around it, it indicates that it has been selected by the user. It may be the only selection, or one of many.

Animal / Neckband - No comms in last 24hrs

When the Animal icon has a black cross through it, it indicates that the Neckband has not communicated with the eShepherd platform for more than 24 hrs. This may be due to several reasons, such as the Animal having moved outside of the communication coverage area, or more likely, that the Neckband has encountered a hardware failure and is no longer able to communicate.

If the Neckband has not received any messages from the eShepherd platform for more than 24hrs, then it will automatically disable its virtual fencing function. Only when comms resume will the Neckband start enforcing the virtual fence boundary again.

If you see an icon with a cross through it on your map, and this neckband has not communicated in 2 or more days, then it is likely that the neckband has failed. The best thing to do in such situations is to remove the association of that neckband from the animal. This can be done in two ways:

1) In the Animal menu, select that animal, then click on Edit -> Edit Single Animal. At the top, click on the drop-down menu for Neckbands and select Unfit.

2) If you do not need a record of the Animal, then you can simply select the faulty Animal / Neckband icon, and then press Delete in the bottom menu.

Neckband - Unfitted

The green triangle shows a Neckband that is not associated with an animal. In this state, the Neckband cannot do any virtual fencing.

To find instructions on how to associate the neckband with an animal, see this article.

Neckband - Unfitted and No comms in last 24hrs

A green triangle with a cross through it means that the Neckband is no longer associated with an animal, and that is has not communicated in the last 24 period (or longer).

If a Neckband has stopped working for whatever reason, then its last known location will be displayed on the map.

Updated on: 06/08/2025