Real-life 'Unicorn' shot down in Slovenia

The image you just saw above shows what seems to be proof that unicorns are after all creatures that don't just live in fairy tales, do they? However, the photograph actually depicts a poor doe with some sort of incredibly rare deformity in the antlers. Ah ... what a disappointment!

According to Jason Bittel of National Geographic, the pet was hunted in August this year in the Celje region of Slovenia and probably had only a single “horn” due to an anomaly possibly caused by an injury when the animal began to develop. antlers - or stems, which are branched-looking bony structures present in the skulls of cervids.

Unicorn Doe

According to Bittel, although injuries to these structures are quite frequent - and may result in the loss of one of the stems or irregularly shaped stems - the case of the unicorn doe attracted much attention. As Boštjan Pokorny, a scientist who analyzed the skull and confirmed its authenticity, explained, only males of the hunted species in Celje usually have these structures, and they are bilateral and almost always symmetrical.

However, this is the first time Pokorny has come across a doe that has developed a single antler. And if you were outraged that the "unicorn" was shot down, Bittel explained that these animals are the most abundant game animals in Slovenia, and there is regulation about how many specimens can be killed annually.

The hunter that slaughtered the doe specifically selected this animal because of its advanced age and that it had a single rod. Moreover, from the distance the hunter was, it was impossible to determine that it was a "unicorn" and not a doe that for some reason had lost one of its antlers. Anyway, it's a pity the doe died that way, don't you think?