Lizard Genitalia Has Become The Newest Black Market Craze! This Is How It Happened.

#1

Wildlife crime investigator Jose Louies says he never imagined he'd spend his time tracking down lizard penises. But that’s what he found himself doing on June 21 when he and a colleague entered a tantric shop in Noida, a city in northern India, with the intention of feigning interest in buying—of all things—reptile genitalia. Louies, who heads the crimes unit with the conservation organization Wildlife Trust of India, was there as part of a sting operation targeting shop owner Acharya Kalki Krishna. A former customs officer turned occult leader, Krishna was suspected of peddling the genitalia of lizards.

After police received the agreed signal—a text message—they raided the shop and arrested Krishna for attempting to sell illegal wildlife products. The arrest was the latest in a string of busts by law enforcement officers in India intended to shut down yet another bizarre practice in the world of wildlife crime. This one involves sales not of horns or tusks but of hemipenes—the two-pronged sex organ—of monitor lizards.

#2

The scammers selling the black market “medicine” have named their product “hatha jodi,” meaning clasped hands in Hindi. They claim it comes from rare plants in Buddha’s birthplace of Nepal. Investigators first heard the rumors in 2016, when an informant brought the Wildlife Trust of India a sample product and reported seeing poachers club monitor lizards to death, making incisions to remove their two-pronged hemipenes (which, like those of many reptiles, stay hidden in a pouch when not in use), and chopping them off and drying them in the sun.

Officials believe that Krishnan was sourcing the parts from central India's Madhya Pradesh state. "We have made seizures (of the monitor lizard penises) and sent them to the lab for tests. We will also ask the court for the arrested man's custody to further our investigations," a divisional forest officer, H.V Girish, told AFP.

#3

“We couldn’t believe it,” said Louies. “I’ve heard about tiger penis being used, but that’s a charismatic species. Here you are talking about a bloody lizard!” Further investigation showed that hundreds of the fake roots were being sold on eBay, Amazon and other sites for anywhere from $5 to $70. This is an issue — and not just because gullible people are unknowingly chewing up lizard junk.

#4

The lizards, which help control insect and rodent populations, are protected under Indian law and an international treaty that bans trade deemed to threaten an animal’s survival. Even though India’s four monitor lizard species aren’t yet close to endangered status, the newly discovered threat has conservationists worried. The lizards already suffer from poaching for their meat and skins—used to make craft drums and sandals.

#5

Buyers of the sex organs, according to reports, are mainly of Asian origin, who practice Tantric religious beliefs. The penis of a monitor lizard closely resembles the root of hatha jodhi, a rare species, believed by Tantric practitioners, if appropriately energized by a guru, can change a person’s life: bringing immense wealth and happiness. The root of hatha jodhi resembles two hands joined in prayer – hence the beliefs that they bear divine providence. In a statement sent to our newsroom, World Animal Protection said that the potential value of the lizard penises in the UK is about Sh6.6 million (£50,000).

#6

To drum up interest in the unique merchandise, sellers have concocted a scheme that preys on the superstitious nature of their customers, according to Louies. The ruse involves drying the penises and marketing them not as reptile parts but as magical plant roots that bestow happiness on their owners. “They say it can bring you good luck, save you from court cases,” Louies says.

#7

The first bust in India occurred in May when police seized hatha jodi from a seller in Hyderabad. They sent about 30 samples to the country’s Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, where a genetic test revealed that the material was monitor lizard penis. Officers have since made an additional 10 to 15 arrests, according to Louies. One, in Bhubaneshwar, involved the confiscation of 210 pieces of hatha jodi. “We wanted to take the traders by surprise,” Louies says. “The idea was to hit them when they didn’t expect it.”

#8

A recent raid in the eastern Indian state of Orissa saw the seizure of dried hemipenis from Bengal and Yellow Monitor lizards from a house in the city of Bhubaneswar, the statement added. An Indian member of the investigating team said the illegal trade was of major concern for the continued survival of the lizard species involved, as both Bengal and Yellow Monitor lizards are protected under Indian and international law.

#9

As part of its mandate, World Animal Protection has approached all major international online retailers, requesting that they remove all illegal Monitor lizard body parts currently being sold as ‘Hatha Jodhi’ from their websites.

#10

Until they can track down all of the sellers, conservationists hope to spread awareness about what hatha jodi is really made of. Dr. David Ballard commented on the purported sexual benefits of the lizard genitalia on Twitter. “Another bogus treatment for a-reptile dysfunction?”