A remarkable Swiss Brown cow named Veronika is delighting scientists and animal lovers alike after becoming the first cow ever recorded using tools and doing so with impressive skill.
The gentle, elderly cow, who lives in Austria, has been observed using a broom or stick to scratch her back, an ability so rare that, outside humans, it has only been convincingly documented in chimpanzees. Her inventive behavior is now the subject of a scientific study published in Current Biology, marking the first formal description of tool use in cattle.
Veronika isn’t raised for meat or milk. Instead, she lives as a beloved companion on an organic farm run by baker and farmer Witgar Wiegele, who considers her part of the family. He first noticed her unusual habit more than a decade ago, when she began picking up sticks to scratch herself. The behavior later caught scientific attention after it was captured on video and shared with cognitive biologist Professor Alice Auersperg.
“When I saw the footage, it was immediately clear that this was not accidental,” Auersperg said. “This was a meaningful example of tool use in a species that is rarely considered from a cognitive perspective.”
Intrigued, Auersperg and her colleague Dr. Antonio Osuna-Mascaró visited Veronika and carried out 70 structured tests. In controlled trials, they placed a deck brush on the ground in different orientations and observed how Veronika selected and used it.
What they found was extraordinary. Veronika consistently chose the right end of the brush for the right job. She preferred the bristled end for broad, firm areas like her back, while switching to the smooth stick end for softer, more sensitive parts of her lower body. She even adjusted her technique depending on her target using wide, forceful movements for her upper body and slower, more precise motions for delicate areas.
“Veronika uses each part of the broom in a different way,” said Dr. Osuna-Mascaró. “She applies different techniques depending on the function of the tool and the body region.”
Scientists define tool use as manipulating an external object to achieve a goal through mechanical means and Veronika’s behavior goes even further. The researchers describe it as flexible, multi-purpose tool use, meaning she uses different features of the same object for different purposes.
“What is striking is how she compensates for physical limitations,” Osuna-Mascaró added. “She anticipates the outcome of her actions and adjusts her grip and movements accordingly.”
The findings not only mark the first documented case of tool use in cattle but also expand the list of animals known to possess such cognitive abilities. The researchers believe Veronika’s unique life circumstances may have played a key role. Unlike most cows, she has lived a long life, enjoys daily human interaction, and has access to a rich, varied environment filled with objects to explore.
“These conditions likely encouraged exploratory and innovative behavior,” the researchers noted.
They now hope to uncover whether similar talents exist in other livestock and whether such behaviors have simply gone unnoticed.
“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,” the authors said.
Veronika’s story is a charming reminder that intelligence and ingenuity can appear where we least expect them even in the quiet corners of a pasture.