Carlos Solis
Researchers have documented for the first time how an intelligent animal purposefully uses tools. In this case, she used sticks found in the grass and a broom provided by the researchers.
A team of cognitive biologists at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna argues that cows can be classified as tool-using animals.
The subject of their study was a Swiss Brown cow (Bos taurus) named Veronika, who astonished the scientists. She demonstrated a high level of behavioral flexibility, a trait rarely seen outside primates.
What Did the Scientists Discover?
Farmer and baker Witgar Wigele, Veronika’s owner, has long been accustomed to her antics. He has observed for years how she picks up twigs and stretches them to scratch hard-to-reach itchy spots.
However, when university researchers Alice Auer-Sperg and Antonio Osuna-Mascaro saw video footage of this behavior, they were taken aback.
“When I saw the footage, it was immediately clear to me that this was no coincidence. This was a unique example of tool use by an animal species that scientists typically do not study in terms of cognitive abilities,” said Alice Auer-Sperg.
Thus, the researchers went to meet this extraordinary cow. They designed an experiment with seven sessions, each containing 10 trials. The veterinarians wanted to find out how flexible Veronika’s tool use could be.
The cow was offered an asymmetrical object with ends that served different functions: a deck broom with stiff bristles on one side and a smooth handle on the other.
Veronika didn’t just meet expectations—she exceeded them. She used both the bristle end and the handle for scratching, choosing based on which part of her body needed a massage. For the thick skin on her back and sides, she chose the bristles; for the more sensitive skin on her belly and udder, she used the broom handle. She also made broader sweeping movements with the brush and more localized motions with the handle, as reported by Science Alert.
“We suspect that this ability may be more widespread than currently documented. We invite readers who have observed cows or bulls using sticks or other objects for purposeful actions to contact us,” Dr. Osuna-Mascaro wrote in the report.
The study’s results were published in the journal Current Biology.
