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Meet Veronika, the cow that went viral for scratching herself with sticks and stunned scientists

For nearly a decade, Veronika, living on a farm in the small Austrian town of Notsch im Gailtal, has been observed picking up sticks with her mouth and skillfully using them to scratch herself.

4 min readNew DelhiJan 22, 2026 02:02 PM IST

According to the research team, Veronika’s behaviour goes beyond accidental interaction with objects (Image source: @AP/X)

Veronika, a Swiss Brown cow, has challenged long-held assumptions about farm animals after researchers saw her using tools to scratch hard-to-reach parts of her body, a behaviour scientists say is rare.

For nearly a decade, Veronika, living on a farm in the small Austrian town of Notsch im Gailtal, has been observed picking up sticks with her mouth and skillfully using them to scratch her back and other parts of her body. When animal behaviour experts at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna recently reviewed videos of her actions, they realised they were witnessing something extraordinary, CNN reported.

The findings have been published in the journal Current Biology, marking what researchers say is the first documented case of tool use in a pet cow.

“What this tells us is that cows have the potential to innovate tool use, and we have ignored this fact for thousands of years,” lead author Antonio J Osuna-Mascaro, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Veterinary Medicine, wrote in an email to CNN. “There are around 1.5 billion heads of cattle in the world, and humans have lived with them for at least 10,000 years. It’s shocking that we’re only discovering this now.”

Cows are not known for their intelligence, but Veronika, a 13-year-old Swiss Brown, has worked out how to scratch an itch with a broom. pic.twitter.com/lO9FPGOqhh

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 21, 2026

According to the research team, Veronika’s behaviour goes beyond accidental interaction with objects. “When we first saw the video, it was clear that the behaviour was intentional and not accidental,” Osuna-Mascaro said.

Further, researchers conducted controlled experiments by placing a deck brush in front of Veronika in different orientations to better understand her abilities. They observed how she used her tongue to pick up the brush, which end she chose, and which parts of her body she targeted, the report added.

The results showed that Veronika not only used tools deliberately but also demonstrated her ability to make decisions. She preferred the bristled end of the brush for rubbing thicker skin on her upper body, while using the blunt handle for more sensitive areas, such as her udder.

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“This is extremely surprising because the only other solid example of multipurpose tool use that we know of belongs to the chimpanzees of the Congo Basin,” Osuna-Mascaro said in the email. “These, sometimes, are observed using a single tool with two different ends, and use one end to open a hole in the termite mounds, and the other end to fish for the termites.”

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He added, “The spatial relations in Veronika’s case are simpler. Nevertheless, it’s astonishing to find that a cow has the capability to do something like this.”

Despite lacking hands or opposable thumbs, Veronika displayed impressive control using her mouth. Researchers noted that she adjusted her grip depending on which end of the brush she needed, the body part she was scratching, and the kind of motion required, the report stated.

The study suggests that the cognitive abilities of cattle, and possibly other farm animals, may be far more advanced than previously believed. Researchers hope the discovery will encourage further observation and study of livestock behaviour, potentially reshaping how humans understand and treat animals that have lived alongside them.