TIGERS, RHINOS PULL FOR VIAGRA

Faint hope that potency drug could save species slaughtered as sex aids

PHILADELPHIA - Can Viagra save the world's rapidly disappearing population
of tigers and rhinos? The raging worldwide Viagra demand has prompted
speculation that Asian men might turn to the drug and begin forsaking an
ancient folk remedy - imbibing ground tiger penis concotions or using
rhinocerous horn powder to cure sexual dysfunction or increase prowess.

The alarming decline in tiger and rhino populations have been linked by
some to the continuing popularity of centuries-old sexual and other
medicinal folk remedies.

Viagra isn't legal yet in Asia or Europe, but at pharmacies in one city in
China, the little blue anti-impotence pills have sold under the counter for
as much as $36 US a tablet, according to a Beijing newspaper. In the U.S.,
they're $8 to $10 a pill. A bowl of tiger penis soup sells for $350 in
black market Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.

A recent report from Taiwan stirred the controversy when it said such
traditional virility cures were facing a challenge from the little blue
pill.

Some experts, including Dr. Ara DerMarderosian of the University of the
Sciences in Philadelphia, formerly the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy,
believe that if Viagra does become the sex medicine of choice, it could
help save tigers and rhinos.

Fewer than 6,000 rhinos and 10,000 tigers survive today, says the World
Wildlife Fund. But other experts aren't holding much hope for a Viagra
revolution, noting that the animals' parts are marketed for much more than
aphrodisiacs. Karen Baragona of the World Wildlife Fund said a "fringe
culture" in Asia seeks tiger genitals and rhino horn as aphrodisiacs. But
Baragona said other animal body parts have a variety of uses in Chinese
medicine, particularly tiger bone, used as cures for everything from
arthritis to pimples.

"The threat we're concerned about when it comes to rhinos and tigers is
poaching to supply the medicinal market," she said.

Tiger bone is used for rheumatism, muscle pain and paralysis. Rhino horn
is prescribed for delirium.

In Philadelphia's Chinatown, people can purchase a remedy for sexual
dysfunction called the Three Penis Pill-which lists such ingredients as the
sex organs of dogs, seals and deer (plus powdered Gecko lizard) - says Ken
Jamison, who runs the China Herb Co. in Germantown. Jamison says he's never
seen any medications here labeled tiger penis or rhinoceros horn.

In China, any use of the bones or body parts of tigers and rhinos now is
illegal because of their endangered status, said Jia-Ping "Ed" Zheng, a
China native who operates a herb shop in Maple Shade, N.J.. His wife,
Cai-Ping Lin, an accupuncuturist who worked in a traditional Chinese
medicine hospital in China, however, noted that deer horn from "deer farms"
is still legal and is used in many medicines.

Chinese officials in 1993 locked up huge warehouses stocked with millions
of traditional medicines containing tiger and rhino parts, according to the
Beijing Morning Post. Neither Zheng and Jamison nor experts from the
Philadelphia Zoo see Viagra as a savior for the tigers and rhinos.

Reg Hoyt, the zoo's senior vice-president for conservation and science,
noted that Viagra has to fight tradition.

"Traditional medicine is just that. It's just like trying to get people to
eat catfish on Thanksgiving," he said. "Secondly, would it even be
available to these people? It's a relatively new drug and the expense is
quite great."

Jamison said: "When the Viagra thing came out, I just snickered. ... The
Three Penis Pill is like the ancient answer to Viagra. In the Asian
community, it's famous. You usually get them for a wedding gift."

DerMarderosian said traditional Chinese medicine is 95 per cent herbs,"but
there still is use of animal parts."

Viagra could cut into the tiger and rhino trade, DerMarderosian said,
"because it's something that really works." "Obviously, you're still going
to have Spanish Fly available and Yohimbe bark, the bark of a tree from
Africa used for increasing virility for a number of centuries," he said. "I
believe something like Viagra which really works is going to alleviate or
cut down on a lot of this."

- - Knight Ridder

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson