Online trade in dried lizard penises exposed

A team of British and Indian wildlife investigators have uncovered an international scam in which the dried penises of endangered monitor lizards are being passed off as a plant root used in religious rituals.

The London-based group World Animal Protection (WAP) said the penises of Bengal monitor lizards and yellow monitor lizards, which are both on India’s endangered species list, look similar to a rare root that is believed to bring good luck.

While the plant has all but vanished from the Indian countryside, traffickers are buying the dried lizard penises and fraudulently selling them online.

During raids in the eastern Indian state of Odisha several dozen were recovered.