Radiofrequency identification systems: Advantages and constraints for tracking and monitoring of individual animals

To track and monitor individual animals in groups, it is possible to use radiofrequency identification (RFID) systems. RFID encompasses all wireless communication systems that use radiofrequency fields [1]. RFID systems consist of tags and readers [2]. The tags contain unique identification data and can be attached to the item or, in the proposed application, to the animal that needs to be tracked [2]. The readers are used to read and identify the tags via radiofrequency fields [2]. The development of RFID technology started in the late 1960s and RFID systems are currently used for a large range of applications, including electronic door locking systems, contactless smart cards, and animal identification [2,3,4]. Further progress in the technology of chip manufacturing now makes RFID suitable for novel applications and available at a lower cost [4,5]. Therefore, the existing RFID technology may be applicable for animal tracking and monitoring as well. Here, different types of RFID systems will first be discussed for their applicability in individual animal tracking and monitoring, after which future work using RFID to track individual animals will be presented.