People Are Being Tricked Into Buying Lizard Penises Online
They're being told it's a rare herb.
Hatha jodi. The people selling this strange, cactus-shaped product say itâs the rare root of a plant that can be used as a lucky charm. But in reality, itâs made from the body parts of monitor lizards. And the lizards used to make hatha jodi go through absolute hell.
First, monitor lizards are stolen from the wild and tied up so they canât get away. Then their claws are painfully removed from all four feet.
But the worst part is what happens next â after selecting the male lizards, people burn off the skin around the animalsâ penises, and remove them with a sharp knife while the lizards are still alive. After this, the animals die slow, excruciating deaths.
Every year, hundreds of male monitor lizards are put through this agony to produce hatha jodi, which is sold as a good luck token across India and around the world. The occult practitioners who sell hatha jodi promise the buyers that the lizard penises will make them wealthy, healthy and attractive.
The productâs âmagical propertiesâ are strange enough, but its designation as a rare tree root is pretty bizarre too. Jose Louies, chief of the wildlife crime control division for International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), told The Dodo that a hatha jodi plant doesnât actually exist.
âThe hatha jodi is in fact the animal product which was sold as a plant product,â Louies said. âThe look of the dried penis is like a plant product. Everyone who was selling it online cooked their own versions of stories, and no one thought beyond the words of sellers, who are astrologers, faith healers or spiritual advisors.â
Dr. Neil DâCruze, a scientist with World Animal Protection, is also fairly certain that an actual hatha jodi plant doesnât exist. If it does, however, he thinks itâs probably cheaper and easier for sellers to use monitor lizards.
âIt is said to belong to a rare plant found only in special sacred sites â Lumbini valley in Nepal and Amarkantak hills in central India,â DâCruze told The Dodo. âIf a real plant does exist at these extremely remote locations, then the four Indian species of monitor lizards, given their wide distribution, would be easier and cheaper to source.â
Hatha jodi is produced in India, and itâs sold in spiritual shops and temples around the country. However, itâs also sold internationally through major retailers like Amazon, Esty and eBay at exorbitant prices.
But the lizards pay an even higher price for hatha jodi.
âTribal hunters use dogs, snares, or they smoke the den or simply disturb the habitat and chase them and capture,â Louies said. âAfter capture, they tie them in a knot using the tail of the animal after removing the claws. The animal is kept alive this way for more than a few days.â
In other instances, hunters will tie the lizards up with their own claws, according to Louies.
Warning: Graphic photo below
âThe hunters remove the claws of the animal while it is alive, and use ... the pulled claw as a string to tie the limbs together,â Louies said. âImagine your fingers being mashed and used to tie your hands together behind your back. The tail is then taken around the neck and knotted â this way the animal cannot move.â
And once the penis is removed, people often skin the lizards to make shoes or drums, and sell their meat, according to Louies.
The hatha jodi trade isnât just cruel â itâs also illegal. Most monitor lizard species are protected under CITES Appendix I, which prohibits the trade of these animals. Indian wildlife laws protect the lizards, too, so anyone selling hatha jodi is actually breaking the law.
The best way to stop the hatha jodi trade is education and awareness, as well as better online surveillance of product sales, according to Louies.
âWe are going to counter it online, ensuring that sites from India will not have the product for sale,â Louies said. âWe have some online tools for keeping an eye on the product and its variant names.â