Don's View

It seems the original ED drug may have a favorable impact on tigers' survival... not by helping them make more baby tigers but by reduced poaching of tigers for body parts. Some traditional Chinese medicine practitioners believe tiger penis to be a potent aphrodisiac. Sea horses and rhinoceros are also poached to obtain substances used for sexual enhancement. Viagra, even at $8 to $10 a pill is less expensive than some endangered species parts. And Viagra is effective, at least two-thirds of the time, in relieving the symptoms of erectile dysfunction.

Unfortunately, animal parts are used by Chinese traditionalists to treat conditions other than sexual impotence. So the example of Viagra and its cousin pills may more usefully reflect the impact of traditional medicine use on endangered species survival than offer a targeted solution.

The tiger seen here was photographed at the Henry Dooley Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, and as far as I know is not subject to the threat of poachers.

Labels: conservation, tigers, wildlife