The narwhal possesses treasures more precious than gold

The narwhal is a medium-sized marine animal of the suborder toothed whales. What makes this animal most noticeable is the distinctive long horn on its head.

Many movies and novels often feature a mythical creature known as a unicorn. In fact, there is also a creature with long horns on its head, which is the narwhal, the English name is "narwhal".

Along with the white whale, the narwhal is the only extant species of the family Monodontidae. However, white whales do not have horns like them. The narwhal lives in the frigid arctic region, where the weather conditions are harsh with thick layers of ice during the 6 months of winter.

What attracts the most attention to the narwhal is its unique long, straight horn. This is not actually a horn, but a fang that grows from the upper left jaw of the animal.

This tusk is usually 2 to 3m long, weighs more than 10kg and is only available to male narwhals. The fang grows in a counter-clockwise spiral, like the legendary unicorn horn.

Some narwhals even grow a pair of horns because the right canine also grows longer. However, the right tooth is usually shorter than the left and this is also extremely rare.

The narwhal's tusk does not play a big role in life. Females without long teeth live as long as males. Many other theories have been put forward about its uses such as breaking ice, sensing temperature, navigating or hunting. However, these theories have not really been proven.

According to Earthsky, it's simply a gender trait. Like a lion's mane or a male peacock's tail, narwhals use their long teeth to determine hierarchy and compete for females. However, scientists have not yet provided specific documents on this.

In the Middle Ages, it was believed that cutting the horns of a narwhal and grinding them into a powder could cure all ailments. Not only that, the horns of the narwhal are also used in many works of art. The throne of the king of Denmark in the 1600s was also decorated with narwhal teeth.

Today, their beauty and rarity are still hunted by the super-rich. Estimates of the price of narwhal tusks range from $4,000-15,700 and are often compared to gold. Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) once paid the equivalent of a castle to own rare narwhal tusks.

So, to make a profit, people have hunted and hunted narwhals a lot. Besides, this animal is affected by global warming. According to scientists, in 2008, there were an estimated 1,945 narwhals in the area, but by 2017 this number was only 246. This has a strong impact on the number of narwhals globally and makes the species worse. This creature is in danger of extinction in the near future.