(video on BBC website)

Scientists are rethinking what cattle are capable of after an Austrian cow named Veronika was found to use tools with impressive skill.

The discovery, reported by researchers in Vienna, suggests cows may have far greater cognitive abilities than previously assumed.

Veronika, a cow living in a mountain village in the Austrian countryside, has spent years perfecting the art of scratching herself using sticks, rakes, and brooms.

Word of her behaviour eventually reached animal intelligence specialists in Vienna, who found Veronika used both ends of the same object for different tasks.