Overview
- Across seven randomized observation sessions, researchers recorded 76 episodes of Veronika manipulating a long-handled broom to groom hard-to-reach areas.
- She chose the stiff bristles to scratch thicker-skinned regions like her back and switched to the smooth handle for sensitive areas such as the udder and belly.
- The cow lifted, rotated, and braced the broom using her mouth and tongue, adjusting her grip to the task in ways that meet formal definitions of tool use.
- The study by Antonio J. Osuna-Mascaró and Alicia M. Auersperg at the Messerli Research Institute followed a viral video and focused on a pet cow living on an Austrian farm with owner Witgar Wiegele.
- The authors say the single-animal case broadens where flexible tool use has been documented and urge a reassessment of cattle cognition without claiming the ability is widespread.