Why can cows go up stairs but not down them?
In: Biology
Going up the stairs involves moving your center of gravity forward and against gravity, so a misstep will generally just put the cow back in its starting position. Going down has the cow putting all its significant weight forward, towards a small step as a target, where missing will result in serious injury.
Cows learn about gravity much the same way as any other animal- as a smaller juvenile with less risk of injury if and when they fall. By the time they’re full grown and have been led up stairs, they’re much less willing to risk coming back down.
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