Tool Use Beyond Primates

Tool use — defined as the manipulation of an external object to achieve a goal — has traditionally been seen as a hallmark of advanced cognition. Chimpanzees, certain birds like New Caledonian crows, and a handful of other species have demonstrated this ability in ways that imply problem solving and intentional action. Yet until now, no experimental evidence existed showing that cattle could independently use tools in a flexible manner.

Veronika doesn’t fashion tools the way a chimp might. Instead, she selects and manipulates objects in her environment — sticks and deck brushes — to scratch parts of her body that would otherwise be unreachable. In controlled trials, researchers presented a deck brush on the ground in random orientations and recorded how Veronika approached it. She didn’t simply swipe at it randomly. Instead, she consistently chose a functional end of the brush depending on which body region she wanted to relieve. For broad, firm areas like her back, she used the bristled end, applying a forceful, sweeping motion. For softer, more sensitive regions underneath her belly and around her udder, she strategically used the smooth handle in slower, more controlled movements. Across repeated sessions, her choices were both functionally appropriate and consistent, hallmarks of genuinely flexible tool use.

Multi-Purpose Problem Solving

What makes this discovery especially striking is not only that Veronika uses tools at all, but that she does so in different ways with one object, adapting her behaviour to meet specific needs. Until now, multi‑purpose tool use — the use of different parts of the same tool for different functions — had been convincingly documented only in chimpanzees outside of humans. The observation that a cow can display this kind of behavioural flexibility challenges narrow assumptions about cognitive capability and draws attention to how much we may be overlooking in species we have lived alongside for millennia.

Context Matters

This revelation raises important questions about how we assess intelligence in animals, especially those domesticated and managed within human systems. Cattle are among the earliest large domesticated species, shaped by thousands of years of human selection for production traits. Their behaviour — especially cognitive capacities — has largely been interpreted through the lens of efficiency, yields, and control, rather than curiosity, problem‑solving, or innovation. Many researchers suggest the lack of documented tool use in cattle until now reflects observation bias more than genuine cognitive limitations. As study authors note, most cows do not live as long as Veronika, nor do they inhabit environments rich in manipulable objects or opportunities for exploratory behaviour. In Veronika’s case, a long life, daily contact with humans who treat her as a companion animal, and access to a varied physical landscape likely created conditions where her natural capacities could emerge and be observed.

It is tempting to view Veronika as an exception — a cow with extraordinary smarts. But researchers emphasize that what is truly special may be the context, not the individual. Given time, space, and a stimulating environment, other cattle might well demonstrate similar behaviours. Tool use has likely gone unnoticed simply because the environments and interactions required to bring it out are rare in modern livestock systems.

Observing Natural Intelligence

This insight has profound implications for how we conceive of animal minds and the value of creating conditions that allow natural behaviour to emerge. In rewilding work, whether on a landscape scale or within innovative agricultural systems, the emphasis is not on training or engineering behaviour, but on restoring environments that allow animals to express the full range of their behavioural repertoires — from exploration and play to problem solving and choice. Veronika’s case illustrates that cognitive abilities are not fixed traits visible only in controlled experiments, but can be revealed when animals are afforded the time, complexity, autonomy, and diversity of experiences they would naturally seek out.

In a world increasingly defined by human control, moments like these remind us that we have much to learn from the beings we share the planet with. When we step back and observe with curiosity rather than expectation, we may find that intelligence — in its many forms — is far more widespread, nuanced, and surprising than we ever assumed.

Veronica’s owner, organic farmer Witgar Wiegele said: “Save the nature, then you protect yourself. And nature diversity is the key to survival of this planet“.

Source: Flexible use of a multi-purpose tool by a cow

The post Tool‑Using Cow Challenges How We See Animal Intelligence appeared first on Rewilding Academy.

Lucy Rees, an ethologist and writer, has been studying a population of Pottokas horses for over a decade. These ancient Basque horses were introduced into a public forest in northern Spain in 2010.

Through her ethology project, Lucy reveals the social bonds and behavior patterns within the equine population, with a focus on affiliative behavior and character definition of wild horses. This scientific and personal project began after Lucy studied horses in the wild in different countries.

Her conclusions on the synchrony of movements and absence of hierarchy within equine groups were revolutionary and have only recently been recognized by the scientific community.

Lucy’s extensive knowledge of the Pottokas, based on her observations and notes on social relationships and interconnections, is reflected in the documentary feature film “Notes About Horses”. This film showcases her most interesting conclusions, which challenge traditional human interpretations of equine behavior.

Documentary

Alla Ish Shadrova, an independent filmmaker, is preparing a documentary about the pottoka horses. She studied cinema in Barcelona and created her audio-visual production company Kinoismos in 2017. She focuses on projects that stand out for their social and innovative value in their way of realisation.

The documentary “Notes About Horses” aims to enhance understanding of horses’ affiliative behavior, evoke empathy towards these animals while respecting their nature, and ultimately improve human-horse communication by gaining a deeper knowledge of equine nature.

We asked Ish about her drive and passion for this project.

How did your background prepare you for your current work?

I think that the most important imprint of my youth is my higher education at the Moscow State University, Faculty of Chemistry. The science background enables me to analyse and look deep into the simple things, to be curious about getting new knowledge and know how to summarise. In filmmaking the ability to recap your film in a few phrases is crucial. You should know what your film is about. So, I am lucky to have these skills since my youth.

Where is your passion for filming coming from?

For me it is about dedication, passion and inner necessity to tell stories. Once, in my youth I went to Tanzania to a student conference. I remember when I came back home, I found it limiting to describe my impressions only by words. Those women singing in Swahili, the elephants standing still in Serengeti with their enormous ears, the Maasai villages, the monkeys stealing in the canteen, the mountains of rubbish in Dar es Salaam… There was an audio-visual collage in my mind, like an essay film. I guess it was the moment when I found out this inner necessity to make documentary films. So naive!

How did you get involved in documentary making?

I had a chance to join as a second camera to a small crew to make a short documentary film “The Earth Didn’t Speak” directed by Javier Briones in the mountains of Guatemala. The documentary is about a massacre of indigenous people in 1982 who decided to resist forced relocation for the construction of the Chixoy Dam. It was my very first experience to take part in a documentary film production. It showed me how powerful activism could be through documentary filmmaking. It has a huge value not only as a result but also as a process of making the film. I suppose that strong experience made me discover my passion for social storytelling.

Why did you decide to become involved in science communication and horses?

By chance. In 2016 one friend of mine told me about an ethologist, Lucy Rees, who has an alternative opinion toward equine society, considering horses anarchists. Coming from social documentary filmmaking I had a strong anthropocentric vision. The first question that I asked Lucy when I met her was “How can you avoid applying human logic to communicate to another species?” Then I read her book The Horse’s Logic and I offered her my audiovisual skills to make videos based on that book.

We are animals so we can use animal behavior to understand ourselves on a deeper level. It was my main motivation to submerge myself into the horse society with my camera ON. Working on the videos I became fascinated by the wild life of pottokas. I started to detect the details in their communication: gestures of friendship, gestures of closeness. Those gestures that make the function in the solidity and union of a band. Those gestures that in a certain way we should apply to communicate with them.

Later I visited a lot of equestrian centres and I could compare the life conditions of the domestic horses. It’s so obvious that our human society should bring more attention to the natural life of horses to understand what equine welfare means.

Observing the wild pottokas next to Lucy I noticed the absence of the dominance in equine behavior and the signs of peaceful coexistence. After having done the videos of Ethology, Biomecanique and Horsemanship our ideas have evolved into the script of a feature documentary film, which is the next step in our collaboration, a very logical one.

Is there anything you would like to achieve with your work over the next five years?

The changing of the paradigm of the interpretation of success for human beings could make us simplify our lives and expand the ecological way of thinking. To accept cooperativism and mutual aid as a base for a prosperity for human society could minimise our egocentricity and prioritise the united world. Maybe we could learn about it from wild horses.

You can support this important project!

Alla Ish Shadrova has started a crowdfunding campaign to produce this documentary film about affiliative equine behavior of wild horses. She has spent 4 years getting to know the pottoka horses and finding a way to tell their stories.

“For me this documentary would be a film about a society where the key to survival is mutual aid and peaceful coexistence. A good reflection for nowadays.” – Alla Ish Shadrova

If you like to help change our perspective on behavior of wild horses, and generate deeper insights important for rewilding and reintroduction projects – please consider donating towards this ground-breaking project!

Learn more and donate now: GoTeo
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Follow Lucy Rees on Facebook

The post Shifting Paradigms: Lucy Rees’ Groundbreaking Study of Pottoka Horses appeared first on Rewilding Academy.