This Cow Uses Tools in a Way Scientists Have Never Seen Before

Veronika the cow using a tool to scratch her back. (Photo: Antonio J. Osuna-Mascaró & Alice M.I. Auersperg, CC BY 4.0)

In a quiet corner of rural Austria, a brown Swiss cow named Veronika has accomplished something no cow has ever been scientifically documented doing before. Researchers have identified her as the first-known cow to use a tool in a flexible and purposeful way. Scientist once believed this type of behavior belonged only to humans and a small group of highly cognitive animals. Veronika’s actions are now prompting scientists to rethink how intelligence is distributed across species we often overlook.

Veronika’s story began not in a laboratory but on a farm, where videos surfaced of her using sticks and other objects to scratch parts of her body she could not otherwise reach. The footage eventually caught the attention of researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. They suspected the behavior might qualify as genuine tool use rather than random object play. That curiosity led them to design controlled observations to test Veronika’s abilities.

During the experiments, researchers placed a long-handled deck brush randomly on the ground. Veronika approached the object and picked it up using her tongue and teeth. She then guided it toward specific areas of her body with noticeable precision. When scratching thick-skinned areas like her back, she used the bristled end. For more sensitive areas such as her belly or udder, she rotated the brush and used the smooth handle instead.

Scientists refer to this behavior as flexible, multi-purpose tool use, and it is exceedingly rare outside of humans. While some animals have been observed using tools in limited or repetitive ways, Veronikia’s behavior demonstrates intention and adaptability. She was not merely interacting with an object; she was selecting how to use it based on the outcome she wanted to achieve.

Veronika obviously did not receive any training prior to this. She learned the behavior on her own. Her actions suggest that cattle may posses cognitive abilities that have gone largely unnoticed. Researchers point out that most cows live in highly restricted environments that offer little opportunity for exploration or innovation. Veronika’s comparatively enriched surroundings and long lifespan may have allowed her natural curiosity and problem-solving skills to emerge.

Veronika’s achievement is not just a scientific interest. It serves as a reminder that intelligence does not always look the way we expect it to and that animals we think we know well may still surprise us. As researchers continue to study animal cognition, Veronika’s brush-wielding ingenuity suggests that remarkable abilities may be hiding in plain sight, quietly reshaping how we understand the minds of the animals that share our world.

Meet Veronika, the first-ever documented cow using tools in a flexible way.

Veronika’s adept use of a broom has prompted researchers to rethink long-held assumptions about animal intelligence.

(Top left) Broom end targeted to a top area of the body (thurl). (Bottom left) Stick end targeted to a bottom area of the body (udder). (Right) Number of tooling events in which Veronika used either the broom or the stick end of the tool to target the top or bottom of her body. Bars are colored by body area: top in orange-terracotta and bottom in bluish-green. A Fisher’s exact test revealed a significant association between tool type and body area (p < 0.001), as indicated above the bars. (Photo: Antonio J. Osuna-Mascaró & Alice M.I. Auersperg, CC BY 4.0)