"the researchers believe cattle may simply be smarter than people have previously realised. Since the study, Osuna Mascaró said other clever cows have come to light. “We don’t believe that Veronika is the Einstein of cows,” he said.
“What this tells us is that cows have the potential to innovate tool use, and we have ignored this fact for thousands of years,” he added. “It’s shocking that we’re only discovering this now.”
There is no suggestion that Veronika’s skills are evidence of the evolution of an ominous new species of super-cow. As the scientists write in the study: “She did not fashion tools like the cow in Gary Larson’s cartoon, but she selected, adjusted and used one with notable dexterity and flexibility. Perhaps the real absurdity lies not in imagining a tool-using cow, but in assuming such a thing could never exist.”
That is just the end of the article. You can read the whole piece here
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jan/19/back-scratching-cow-veronika-bovine-intelligence
“What this tells us is that cows have the potential to innovate tool use, and we have ignored this fact for thousands of years,” he added. “It’s shocking that we’re only discovering this now.”
There is no suggestion that Veronika’s skills are evidence of the evolution of an ominous new species of super-cow. As the scientists write in the study: “She did not fashion tools like the cow in Gary Larson’s cartoon, but she selected, adjusted and used one with notable dexterity and flexibility. Perhaps the real absurdity lies not in imagining a tool-using cow, but in assuming such a thing could never exist.”
That is just the end of the article. You can read the whole piece here
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jan/19/back-scratching-cow-veronika-bovine-intelligence
