Veronika, the first cow to use tools

In DystociaPilar Membrillo It tells the love story of two cows. It does so with delightful prose and delicacy, recounting the relationships that develop between them and dedicating pages to describing behaviors we have long believed to be exclusive to primates, such as mourning the loss of a beloved companion. Now, to the emotional complexity portrayed by this veterinarian from Banyoles in her novel, we must add a cognition far more complex than previously thought, as Veronika, a 13-year-old cow grazing in southern Austria, has shown us.

Alerted by her owner, a farmer who keeps her as a pet, a team of scientists from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have been able to document how this bovine is capable of using a tool flexibly for specific purposes. This is an action that had not been previously described in cattle, only in some primates and corvids.

Veronika can pick up a stick or a broom with her mouth, choosing which end is more useful—the smooth end or the bristle end—depending on the area of ​​her body she wants to scratch, and she can also do so with greater or lesser intensity. The researchers who studied her describe this unique cow's technique as "fascinating," especially since she learned it on her own.

This study, recently published in Current Biology, This expands the small group of animals known to be capable of using tools for different purposes. The researchers emphasize that Veronika's changes in how she picks up the stick or broom demonstrate that it is an anticipated action. This had only been observed previously in primates, especially chimpanzees, and corvids. "The results of this work highlight how assumptions about livestock intelligence can reflect gaps in observation, rather than true cognitive limitations," the study's authors argue.

It's not just any cow.

It's true that Veronika's case is quite unique. This brown Swiss cow is the pet of Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker from a small town in southern Austria. When the animal was about three years old, Witgar began to notice that she would sometimes pick up sticks and use them to scratch herself. And not only that, this farmer says, but she also recognizes the voices of family members and comes when they call her name. Realizing Veronika's exceptional nature, Witgar recorded his pet on video and sent it to Alice Auersperg, a biologist at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. "When I saw it, I realized that it wasn't accidental, but rather an example of meaningful tool use in a species that had been cognitively underestimated," this researcher stated in a press release. Auersperg, along with another researcher, the Spaniard Antonio J. Osuna-Mascaró, both experts in animal cognition, traveled to the small village and conducted seven sessions and 10 experiments with Veronika. In all of them, they placed a broom with two distinct ends in front of the cow, one with stiff bristles and the other smooth. The animal used the broom 76 times to scratch herself. She used her mouth and tongue to lift the broom, and achieved precise control by gripping it firmly between her teeth.

For areas with thick skin, like the back, it used firm movements with the bristle side. For more delicate areas, like the chest and udder, it was more careful with the smooth side. Doing all this is extremely unusual in animals, at least in those observed so far. "It uses the tool on its own body, therefore representing an egocentric form of use that is generally considered less complex than using tools to interact with external objects," explains Osuna-Mascaró, as chimpanzees do, for example, using twigs to extract them. The researcher also highlights the obvious physical limitations of the cow, which doesn't have hands to manipulate the tools and does so with its mouth. "What is surprising," the authors insist, "is that it compensates for these limitations by anticipating the outcome of its actions and adjusting its grip and movements."

Are the other cattle also capable of doing the same? It's unknown. But what is clear is that Veronika's life is also very exceptional. She has already lived much longer than her companions destined for meat or milk production. And she lives in a more enriching open environment than her stabled companions, which gives her the opportunity to interact with a variety of objects, including humans. All of this may have created the necessary conditions for creative behavior to emerge.

Rethinking animal cognition

The case of Veronika sheds light on the minds of these herbivorous mammals. And it changes the way we study the cognitive traits of animals. For a long time, science considered that only humans were capable of using tools. Primatologist Jane Goodall dispelled this misconception by demonstrating in the 1960s that chimpanzees used tools to catch termites. And decades later, the use of tools by dolphins, octopuses, and crows has been documented.

"This discovery forces us to rethink the ecological and cognitive demands on these animals and has direct implications for their well-being," says Miquel Llorente, Serra Húnter researcher and head of the Psychology Department at the University of Girona, in statements to Science Media Centre SpainAccording to this expert, if they have that mental potential, "environmental enrichment on farms should not be a luxury, but an ethical necessity for their maintenance and care."