Yes, Virginia, There Really Is a Unicorn

I don't check my MSN email often. In fact, it's so rare that I do, it's almost a miracle. Fitting, then, that the first time I navigate towards the MSN homepage in well over a year, I am informed that, in fact, another miracle was taking place: the discovery of a mythical beast!



That's right a UNICORN! This Roe deer, born in captivity in Prato, Italy, was born with a single horn in the middle of its forehead. Not only is being born with a single horn significant, but when it does happen, it's usually off to the side:



So this is really a DOUBLE miracle! Or, as Gilberto Tozzi, the director at the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, put it: "This is fantasy becoming reality,"

The deer, appropriately named 'Unicorno', is the first of its kind that Tozzi has seen. It is assumed, though, that previous sightings may have ciontributed the initial elements of truth that were woven into the Medieval legend of the unicorn. I don't know about you, but I'm hoping the next baby animal born in Prato hatches in the aviary...


Here's the website for the biopark where Unicorno lives:
http://www.csn.prato.it/index.php?sel_lang=english

For more on Unicorno, check out this original MSN link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25097986/from/ET/wid/18298287/&GT1=43001

If you're one of our ever growing readers with knowledge of the Italian language:
http://www.italianotizie.it/leggi.asp?idcont=444

and for more on unicorn legends in general, there's always good ole Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn

And finally, if you're looking for a way to celebrate, a personal recommendation:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084237/