Study Finds Cows Recognize Familiar Human Faces and Voices

French researchers tested whether cows can distinguish between people they know and strangers. Scientists from the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment placed 32 Prim'Holstein cows in front of two screens showing video of human faces.

One screen displayed a person the cow encountered regularly. The other showed a stranger. Researchers measured how long each animal looked at each screen while the videos played without sound.

The team then played voice recordings from both the familiar and unfamiliar individuals. When a known voice played, the cows spent more time looking at the matching face. The pattern reversed when an unfamiliar voice was heard. The cows stared longer at videos of unfamiliar people, showing they could tell a known face from an unknown one.

When viewing images of other cows, the animals spent longer examining photographs of heifers they already knew.

The findings were published in the journal PLOS One.

Researchers stated that cows are capable of processing human cues and do not perceive all humans as a single category. The team also reported that cows can integrate multiple sensory cues, reflecting a higher level of cognitive processing. Scientists noted that understanding these abilities could help improve how farm workers interact with cattle.