Justice for The far side draftsman Gary Larson: A team of scientists has observed a cow using a tool in a pliant way for the first time. The ingenuity of “Veronica,” as the animal is called, shows that cattle have enough intelligence to manipulate elements of their environment and solve challenges they would otherwise be unable to overcome.
Veronika is a domestic cow in Austria. Its owners do not operate it for meat and milk production. She wasn’t trained to do tricks either; on the contrary, over the last 10 years she has developed the ability to find branches in the grass, choose one, hold it with her mouth and scratch herself with it to soothe skin irritations.
So far, only chimpanzees have convincingly demonstrated the ability to operate tools to improve their living conditions. Recent research also indicates this whales are the only marine animals that can use complex tools. This European cow will soon join this exclusive group of resourceful animals.
Weronika’s films circulating on the Internet attracted the attention of veterinary researchers in Vienna. They visited the farm, conducted behavioral tests and controlled studies. “During repeated sessions, it was verified that her decisions were consistent and functionally appropriate,” the press release stated.
Veronica’s abilities go beyond just scratching with the tip, explain the authors of a study published in Current biology. In the tests, the cow was offered different textures and objects, which she adjusted according to her needs. Sometimes she chose tender bristles, other times a stiffer tip. Scientists say she used different parts of the same tool for specific purposes and even modified her technique depending on the type of object or area of the body she wanted to scratch.
Although they consider the operate of a tool that soothes irritations to be “less complicated” compared to, for example, using a keen stone to reach the seeds, specialists highly value Weronika’s skills. For now, she’s showing that she can decide which part of the tool is most useful to her. According to the authors, the finding suggests that we have underestimated the cognitive abilities of cattle.
Why is Weronika so talented?
The team acknowledges that it is still too early to say that all cows can operate tools with the same skill as Veronika. For now, scientists are trying to determine how the cow developed awareness of its surroundings.
Scientists believe her special circumstances played a role. For 10 years, Veronika lived in a complicated, open environment full of objects that can be manipulated – a completely different experience than cattle raised to produce milk and meat. They argue that these conditions favor exploratory and groundbreaking behavior. They are currently looking for more videos of cattle using tools to gather further evidence about their cognitive abilities.
“Until now, tool use was considered a topic reserved for primates (especially great apes, but also macaques and capuchin monkeys), some birds such as corvids and parrots, and marine mammals such as dolphins. Finding them in the cow is a fascinating example of convergent evolution: intelligence arises in response to similar problems, no matter how different the animal’s ‘design’ may be,” said Miquel Llorente, director of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Girona, which was not involved in the study, in a statement to Science Media Center Spain.