# Scientists Discover high-altitude unicorn population in remote Andean valley

**LA PAZ, Bolivia** — In what researchers are calling "the zoological discovery of the century," a team of international scientists has documented a small herd of equine creatures bearing single spiral horns in a previously unmapped valley deep in the Andes Mountains.

The discovery was made by a joint expedition from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés and the Royal Veterinary College during a routine biodiversity survey at approximately 4,200 meters elevation.

"We initially thought we were observing a group of wild horses through the fog," said Dr. Elena Vargas, lead researcher on the expedition. "When we got closer, we realized we were looking at something that shouldn't exist."

The herd, numbering approximately twelve individuals, appears to have survived in complete isolation. The valley's steep cliffs and year-round cloud cover likely kept the population hidden from outside observation for centuries.

Genetic samples are currently being analyzed, though preliminary observations suggest the horn is a keratinous structure similar to that of rhinoceroses rather than the ivory-like material of legend.

Local Aymara communities have reportedly long told stories of "caballos del cielo" — horses of the sky — living in forbidden mountain regions, lending credence to the possibility that indigenous populations were aware of these creatures.

The exact location remains classified pending conservation assessments.
