Study documents first flexible tool use in a cow

A study in Current Biology describes what researchers say is the first documented case of flexible tool use in cattle: a Swiss Brown cow named Veronika, living as a companion animal in Austria, used different parts of a deck brush to scratch different parts of her body. In controlled observations, researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna found that she didn’t use the object randomly. She selected the brush end for broader scrubbing on upper-body areas and the handle end for more targeted scratching on sensitive lower-body regions, a pattern the authors say meets the standard for multi-purpose tool use. The paper was published January 19, 2026, and was later highlighted by ScienceDaily on March 26. (sciencedirect.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the finding adds to a growing body of evidence that cattle cognition may be more complex than many husbandry systems account for. The authors argue that livestock intelligence has been understudied outside productivity and welfare contexts, and outside experts quoted in coverage said the case should prompt less dismissive assumptions about bovine problem-solving. While this is a single-animal report and not evidence that all cattle use tools, it reinforces the clinical and welfare value of enrichment, observation of individual behavior, and management systems that allow animals to express more of their behavioral repertoire. (sciencedirect.com)

What to watch: Researchers say the next step is to look for additional cases and test whether similar behaviors emerge in other cattle given the opportunity. (sciencefocus.com)