The old Swiss Brown cow called Veronika has astonished scientists in Austria with her ability to use objects for a range of tasks
A brilliant cow named Veronika has become the first cow ever documented using tools – including employing a brush to give her back a good scratch.
The old Swiss Brown bovine has left scientists in Austria gobsmacked with her knack for wielding objects to tackle various jobs.
Researchers describe such versatile tool usage amongst animals as “extraordinarily” uncommon and, beyond humans, has only been convincingly recorded previously in chimpanzees.
Veronika isn’t raised for meat or dairy but lives as a cherished companion with organic farmer and baker Witgar Wiegele, who considers her family.
More than ten years ago, he spotted Veronika occasionally grabbing sticks to give herself a scratch.
This remarkable behaviour caught scientific interest when footage was captured and passed to cognitive biologist Professor Alice Auersperg.
She has since carried out research, published in Current Biology journal, marking the first documentation of tool usage in cattle.
Prof Auersperg, from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, believes her discoveries indicate that bovine intelligence has been seriously undervalued.
She explained: “The findings highlight how assumptions about livestock intelligence may reflect gaps in observation rather than genuine cognitive limits.
“When I saw the footage, it was immediately clear that this was not accidental.
“This was a meaningful example of tool use in a species that is rarely considered from a cognitive perspective.”
Prof Auersperg and her colleague Dr Antonio Osuna-Mascaró travelled to meet Veronika and carry out systematic behavioural experiments.
During a series of controlled trials, they placed a deck brush on the ground in random positions.
The researchers documented which end Veronika chose and which part of her body she focused on.
Throughout multiple sessions, they discovered that her selections were “consistent and functionally appropriate” for the body areas she was targeting.
Dr Osuna-Mascaró explained: “We show that a cow can engage in genuinely flexible tool use.
“Veronika is not just using an object to scratch herself. She uses different parts of the same tool for different purposes, and she applies different techniques depending on the function of the tool and the body region.”
The researchers discovered that Veronika typically favours the bristled end of a deck brush when scratching broad, solid areas such as her back.
However, when focusing on softer and more delicate regions of her lower body, she switches to the smooth stick end.
Veronika also modifies how she handles the implement.
The researchers noted how her upper-body scratching involves broad, powerful movements, whilst her lower-body scratching is slower, more cautious, and highly precise.
Tool use is characterised as the manipulation of an external object to accomplish a goal through mechanical means. The Austrian researchers discovered that Veronika’s behaviour fits the definition and even goes a step further, labelling it as flexible, multi-purpose tool use.
This means she uses different aspects of the same object to achieve various functional outcomes.
Dr Osuna-Mascaró stated: “Because she is using the tool on her own body, this represents an egocentric form of tool use, which is generally considered less complex than tool use directed at external objects.
“At the same time, she faces clear physical constraints, as she must manipulate tools with her mouth.
“What is striking is how she compensates for these limitations, anticipating the outcome of her actions and adjusting her grip and movements accordingly.”
He said the findings represent the first documented case of tool use in cattle and the first evidence of flexible, multi-purpose tool use in the species.
They also broaden the taxonomic range of animals known to possess this ability.
The researchers note that Veronika’s life circumstances may have played a significant role in the development of her behaviour.
Most cows do not live as long as her, do not inhabit open and complex environments, and are seldom given the chance to interact with a variety of manipulable objects.
Her lengthy lifespan, daily interaction with humans, and access to a rich physical landscape likely created favourable conditions for “exploratory and innovative” behaviour, according to the researchers.
They made reference to cartoonist Gary Larson’s 1982 Far Side comic strip entitled Cow Tools.
The cartoon depicts a cow standing with evident pride next to a collection of peculiar, pointless items that qualify as “tools” in name alone.
The humour was based on a straightforward premise: cattle lack the intelligence required to create or utilise tools.
Prof Auersperg explains that Veronika “did not fashion tools like the cow in Gary Larson’s cartoon, but she selected, adjusted, and used one with notable dexterity and flexibility.”
She continued: “Perhaps the real absurdity lies not in imagining a tool-using cow, but in assuming such a thing could never exist.”
The research team is now keen to discover which environmental and social factors enable such behaviours to develop in farm animals, and how many comparable instances may have been overlooked simply because nobody was searching for them.
Dr Osuna-Mascaró stated: “Because we suspect this ability may be more widespread than currently documented, we invite readers who have observed cows or bulls using sticks or other handheld objects for purposeful actions to contact us.”