Austrian Cow Redefines Cattle Intelligence with Remarkable Tool Use
A groundbreaking discovery in Austria is forcing scientists to reassess long-held beliefs about the cognitive abilities of cattle. An Austrian cow named Veronika has demonstrated an unprecedented – and previously undocumented – ability to utilize tools, challenging the notion that livestock lack complex problem-solving skills.
The story began with Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker from a small town in Carinthia, near the Italian border, who observed Veronika engaging with sticks. He noticed she wasn’t simply playing with them, but actively using them to scratch her body. Wiegele, who also noted Veronika’s apparent recognition of family members’ voices and her eagerness to greet them, observed her learning process over years. “I was naturally amazed by her extraordinary intelligence and thought how much we could learn from animals: patience, calmness, contentment, and gentleness,” he said.
Word of Veronika’s unusual behavior quickly spread, eventually reaching biologists in Vienna specializing in animal intelligence. A video clip of the cow’s actions prompted an immediate response. “It was a cow using an actual tool,” explained Dr. Antonio Osuna Mascaró, of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. “We got everything ready and jumped in the car to visit.”
The setting for this remarkable discovery is Nötsch im Gailtal, described by Osuna Mascaró as “straight out of the Sound of Music,” a picturesque region of green forests, blue lakes, and mountains. This idyllic environment, he added, is “the most idyllic place imaginable for an Austrian cow.”
Researchers, including Osuna Mascaró and colleague Alice Auersperg, conducted a series of field trials with Veronika, utilizing a deck brush to test her capabilities. The Brown Swiss cow proved adept at not only grasping the broom but also wielding it strategically. Demonstrating remarkable adaptability, Veronika used her tongue to reposition the broom when it was at an awkward angle, then secured it with her teeth.
The study, published in Current Biology, revealed a nuanced understanding of tool selection. Veronika favored the bristled end of the broom for scratching her tough back, but intelligently switched to the smooth handle for more delicate areas like her udders and belly. “At the beginning I thought this was the result of a mistake,” Osuna Mascaró admitted. “But after a while we started to observe a pattern: Veronika indeed had a preference for using the broom end, but when she used the handle end she was doing so in a meaningful way.”
Tool Use Across Species
While tool use is well-documented in species like chimpanzees, crows, dolphins, and even octopuses – with the latter observed throwing shells at each other – it has historically been considered absent in livestock. The popular perception of cattle intelligence was perhaps best encapsulated by Gary Larson’s 1982 Far Side cartoon, “Cow Tools,” which depicted a cow surrounded by bizarre, ineffective implements. Larson himself acknowledged the cartoon’s ambiguity, explaining that even if a cow could create tools, they would likely be “sorry specimens.”
Veronika is not crafting tools, but her proficiency in using them is nonetheless impressive. Over seven sessions of ten trials, researchers documented 76 instances of tool use, as she leveraged the broom to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. This ability to utilize both ends of the brush – the bristles and the handle – constitutes multi-purpose tool use, a trait rarely observed outside of humans and, convincingly, chimpanzees.
The origins of Veronika’s skills remain unclear, but several factors may have contributed. Her advanced age of 13 years, coupled with a stimulating environment, likely played a role. However, researchers now believe that cattle may simply possess a higher level of intelligence than previously assumed. Since the initial study, Osuna Mascaró reports that other intelligent cows have come to light. “We don’t believe that Veronika is the Einstein of cows,” he clarified. “What this tells us is that cows have the potential to innovate tool use, and we have ignored this fact for thousands of years. It’s shocking that we’re only discovering this now.”
There is no indication that Veronika’s abilities signal the emergence of a “super-cow” species. As the scientists emphasize in their study, she did not create tools, but rather “selected, adjusted and used one with notable dexterity and flexibility.” Perhaps, they suggest, the true absurdity lies not in imagining a tool-using cow, but in presuming such a thing was impossible.
