Veronika resting while using a stick. Photo / Antonio J Osuna Mascaró
In 1982, cartoonist Gary Larson published a now-iconic Far Side comic entitled Cow Tools.
In it, a cow stands proudly beside a jumble of bizarre, useless objects that are “tools” in name only.
The joke hinged on a simple assumption: cows are not intelligent enough to make or use tools.
Now, this assumption is being challenged by a real cow named Veronika, according to a new study published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on January 19.
This study is the first to describe tool use in a pet cow, suggesting that the cognitive abilities of cattle have been underestimated.
“The findings highlight how assumptions about livestock intelligence may reflect gaps in observation rather than genuine cognitive limits,” says Alice Auersperg, a cognitive biologist at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna.
Veronika is not farmed for meat or milk.
She is a long-lived Swiss Brown cow who has been kept as a companion animal by Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker with a strong appreciation for animals, who regards her as part of the family.
Over 10 years ago, Witgar noticed that Veronika would occasionally pick up sticks and use them to scratch herself.
The behaviour first came to scientific attention when it was recorded on video and shared with Auersperg.
“When I saw the footage, it was immediately clear that this was not accidental,” she recalled.
“This was a meaningful example of tool use in a species that is rarely considered from a cognitive perspective.”
Auersperg and her colleague, Antonio Osuna-Mascaró, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, travelled to meet and conduct systematic behavioural tests with Veronika.
In a series of controlled trials, they presented a deck brush on the ground in a random orientation.
The researchers recorded which end Veronika selected and which body region she targeted.
Across repeated sessions, they found that her choices were consistent and functionally appropriate for the body regions she targeted.
“We show that a cow can engage in genuinely flexible tool use,” Osuna-Mascaró said.
“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.”
Researchers found that Veronika typically prefers the bristled end of a deck brush when scratching broad, firm areas such as her back.
However, when targeting softer and more sensitive regions of her lower body, she switched to the smooth stick end.
In addition, she adjusted how she handled the tool.
Researchers said that Veronika’s upper-body scratching involved wide, forceful movements, while her lower-body scratching was slower, more careful, and highly controlled.
Tool use is defined as the manipulation of an external object to achieve a goal through mechanical means.
Researchers found that Veronika’s behaviour met this definition and went a step further, describing it as a flexible, multi-purpose tool use, meaning that different features of the same object were used to achieve distinct functional outcomes.
Such multi-purpose tool use is extraordinarily rare and, outside of humans, has previously been documented convincingly only in chimpanzees.
“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,” Osuna-Mascaró said.
“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.”
The findings represent the first documented case of tool use in cattle and the first evidence of flexible, multi-purpose tool use in this species.
They also expand the taxonomic range of animals known to possess this capacity.
The researchers noted that Veronika’s life circumstances may have played an important role in the emergence of this behaviour.
Most cows do not reach her age, do not live in open and complex environments, and are rarely given the opportunity to interact with a variety of manipulable objects.
Her long lifespan, daily contact with humans, and access to a rich physical landscape likely created favourable conditions for exploratory and innovative behaviour.
“[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,” researchers wrote.
“Perhaps the real absurdity lies not in imagining a tool-using cow, but in assuming such a thing could never exist.”
The team is now interested in understanding which environmental and social conditions allow such behaviours to emerge in livestock species, and how many similar cases may have gone unnoticed simply because no one was looking for them.
“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,” Osuna-Mascaró said.
- Supplied by Cell Press