A bizarre online cow-kissing challenge has been slammed by the Austrian government.
The #KuhKussChallenge ("Cow Kiss Challenge") was launched by a Swiss app called Castl this week.
It encouraged users to kiss cows to raise money for charity.
Castl, which has users in Switzerland and other German-speaking countries, suggested cowscould be kissed "with or without tongues", the Daily Mail reported.
Austrian Agriculture Minister Elisabeth Koestinger released a statement calling the challenge a "dangerous nuisance".
Balancing tourists' and cattle farmers' activities is a sensitive topic in Austria's mountain regions, and the government had even published a "code of conduct" for hikers, advising them to avoid cow herds, the Daily Mail reported.
"Actions like this challenge fly in the face of our efforts to promote co-existence on the pastures. I simply can't understand it," said Koestinger.
Although cattle are often seen as docile creatures they can be dangerous.
In February this year, a court in the Tyrol region of western Austria ordered a farmer to pay 490,000 euros to the widower of a woman who was trampled to death by a herd of his cows in 2014.
The case caused outrage and the farmer is appealing the verdict with the support Austria's farmers' federation, the Daily Mail reported.
In New Zealand a cow attacked two people in a south Auckland park in 2018 and was put down, along with its 8-month-old calf.
