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The Unicorn of Thibet

In honor of the upcoming National Unicorn Day on April 9, I present to you a tale of the mythical beast, as related in the Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser, March 19, 1821:

A King Pursued by a Unicorn, detail

 THE UNICORN.

In the forty-seventh number of that invaluable work, the Quarterly Review, received from our correspondent at London, we find another amusing and interesting article in relation to the Snowy Range of the Hymalaya mountains, forming that stupendous buttress which supports on the south the celebrated Table Land of Central Asia.— The article of which we speak, is a review of a tour through a part of these mountains, to the sources of the river Jumna and Ganges. In the course of the review, the writer introduces a letter from a British officer commanding in the hilly country east of Nepaul, to the marquis of Hastings, stating that the Unicorn, so long considered as a fabulous animal, actually exists at this moment in the interior of Thibet, where it is well known to the inhabitants. The description of the animal corresponds exactly with the Unicorn of the ancients. The hoofs are divided, and the size that of a horse from twelve to thirteen hands high: fierce and extremely wild; seldom if ever caught alive; but frequently shot; and that the flesh is used for food. The person who gave the information to the author of the letter, (Major Latter) has repeatedly seen these animals, and eaten the flesh of them. They go together in herds like wild buffaloes. The drawing accompanying the letter shows some resemblance to a horse, but has cloven hoofs, a long curved horn, growing out of the forehead, and a boar-shaped tail. From its herding together, observes the reviewer, as the Unicorn in scriptures is said to do, as well as from the rest of the description, it is evident that it cannot be the rhinoceros, which is a solitary animal. - [Com. Adv.

The area being described as the range for this unicorn appears to be the Tibetan Plateau. The animal? Probably the chiru, or Tibetan antelope, which is relatively close to the description given in Major Latter's account. It is possible this account predates the official description of the animal by western explorers, which happened some five years later. Other accounts from the area mention the unicorns have black horns about two feet in length, like the chiru. 

The pelts never seem to have been provided for these Western explorers in these early accounts. The reason is not likely to be a nefarious scheme of obscuring the unicorn from outsiders - the pelts are very valuable. The chiru have an exceedingly fine undercoat to protect them from their harsh environment, called shatoosh. The fur is used to make luxury shawls, and it takes three to five animals to produce one shawl. Thankfully, protections put in place in the late 1970s and 1980s to protect the animals from poaching may be working - recent studies indicate their numbers may be increasing.You can learn a bit more about the ongoing conservation effort of the underappreciated chiru at WCS China.

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