The Short Version
Unicorns — the horse-like, single-horned creatures of folklore — do not exist as real, living animals. Multiple credible scientific sources confirm they are mythical. Claims of "real unicorns" refer either to narwhals (whales whose tusks inspired the myth) or to Elasmotherium sibiricum, an extinct rhinoceros that died out roughly 39,000 years ago. Neither qualifies as a living unicorn. No recognized scientific authority has ever documented a living unicorn species.