Lizards' genitals sold to enhance sex, racket busted in MP
Enforcement agencies recently discovered that genitals of big monitor lizards were being smuggled and sold as "lucky charm" for better sex life and fertility in men. Madhya Pradesh Special Task Force busted the racket in Indore and Khargone arresting three traders and a priest. They seized 68 pieces of the body part, some of which were smeared with vermillion.
There is a new entry in the bizarre world of illegal wildlife trade in India. Enforcement agencies have discovered that now the big monitor lizard (genus Varanus) - found across deserts, forests and coastlines of the country - is being poached for its hemipenis (sexual organ), which is sold as a lucky charm for virility and fertility in men. Because of its forked appearance, it is called "hatha jodi". This is often used to confuse customers with the popular Ayurvedic plant "hath jod", which serves to mend bone fractures. The Madhya Pradesh special task Force (MPSTF) seized 68 pieces of the tiny reptile body part from four poachers in raids in Indore and Khargone from June 16-17. One of those arrested was a priest of the famous Navagraha temple of Khargone, who was found in possession of 13 hatha jodi. "This also points towards the artificially created religious beliefs around hatha jodi," said RP Singh, additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) of MP. Many pieces have been found smeared with vermillion around temples in the past few days. Three traders - Sumit Sharma, Sachin Sharma and Feroze Ali - were nabbed from Indore with 10 pieces of the contraband. Lokesh Jagirdar, the Navagraha temple priest, was also arrested on June 16. On Saturday, following clues given by them, their supplier, Rajesh Porwal, was taken into custody from Indore. Officers said the items were most probably procured from western MP or the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, where the stony and desert topography harbours large populations of the lizard. Each piece was being sold for anywhere between Rs 500 to Rs 15,000 depending on how naive or desperate the buyer is. "So many false pretexts are given, ranging from boosted sex life to success in lucky draws and gambling and prosperity in business. Unfortunately, with increasing prosperity in towns like Ujjain, Indore and Ratlam, people are willing to shell out the money as well," Singh said.SEX SELLS AND SO DO GENITALSDr Sumit Dookia, herpetologist and professor at Delhi's Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, said, "India has four varieties of these reptiles - Bengal, Yellow, Desert and Water Monitor Lizard. Their habitat is distributed across the middle Himalayas to Western Ghats. They are expert terrestrial animals as well as great swimmers." "Notably, they serve an important role in the ecosystem as scavengers, eating up the flesh of dead animals alongside eggs, insects, small birds and animals. Any downfall in their numbers is unhealthy for the ecosystem," he added. They are a Schedule 1 species as per India's Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) prohibits trade in the Bengal Monitor Lizard. Additional Director of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Tilottama Verma, informed, "Previously, we had found 210 hatha jodis in Brahmeswarpatna area of Odisha on May 30. And 22 such pieces were confiscated in Hyderabad in March, taking the confirmed number of big lizards killed for their genitals to 300 at least. Some such items were seized in Chennai too." "We have long known monitor lizards to be killed sporadically for their meat, fat and oil, consumed in mostly some tribal areas. But hatha jodis certainly came as a surprise to us. We sent them to various scientific labs to ascertain their true origin," he added. The items are also being sold online, even on big global e-tail firms. "We had launched Operation Wildnet to get hold of such unscrupulous elements a few months back, which has so far been successful. This racket is a cause of worry for us," Verma said.Also read: Sexual desire stimulant herb racket busted in Mumbai, 33,000 kg of grass seized 