Maybe there was so much confusion because it involved tigers' "private parts." When the UK Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) took a video filmed more than ten years ago as proof that Taiwan still imports tigers and then raised a big ruckus about "tiger penises," how was it that no one doubted how Taiwan could import so many penises of an endangered species?
An article in the March 28 edition of Time Magazine about tigers mentioned that wealthy Taiwanese were spending US$300 per bowl of Tiger penis soup to gain the virility of a tiger. The article included a picture of "a tiger penis."
The black-and-brown item in question was curled up like intestines, and its end was barbed. But practitioners of Chinese medicine pointed out what was featured in this picture supposedly proving that Taiwanese ate tiger penises was not the real thing.
The bovine impostor
"Take a pair of binoculars to the zoo to observe a tiger's penis," says a laughing Chang Chien-che, a professor at the China Medical College, "and you'll know pretty quick that an impostor was featured in that photo." Whether on the mainland or in Taiwan, the vast majority of tiger penises on the market are all "forgeries." And the sellers know what they're selling. These delectable dildos are all ridiculously long and capped by dramatic barbs which have obviously been cut by the seller. "The barbs on the reproductive organ of a male tiger are very hard for the eye to see," Chang notes.
Hsu Chen-hui, who practices Chinese medicine in Kaoshiung, says that the vast majority of these so-called "tiger penises" are actually fabricated from the intestines of cows or other animals. Some of them are actually bull penises, says Chang Hsien-che. And can there be many people willing to spend US$300 for a bowl of tiger penis soup? Even if some will shell out for tiger penis soup when tigers are an endangered species, "What most of them are drinking is bull penis soup." He says that he has been teaching Chinese medicine for 20 years and has never seen an actual tiger penis.
In reality, you won't find tiger penis listed in any dictionary of Chinese medicine. In the thousands of years that Chinese medicine has been practiced, no one has ever claimed tiger penis has any special use, and modern doctors of Chinese medicine won't prescribe it. The belief that tiger penis increases virility is just an old wives' tale that has been grabbed hold of by medicine peddlers out for a buck.
Because this is a "sensitive" topic for both Chinese and foreigners, most people haven't been interested in actually finding the truth. And so bull penises are being taken for tiger penises, and the foreign media is launching caustic attacks. It's no wonder that Chang Hsien-cheh calls the Pelly Amendment a "clumsy retaliatory measure."
Take another look!
Perhaps those who want to eat tiger penises should be a little more cautious in the future, not only because they may be breaking the Wildlife Protection Law but because they may be getting ripped off, forking out a pretty penny for bull penis or cow intestines. Never mind the dubiousness of the claim that they will rise up and roar like a tiger--for even the ancient Chinese didn't make any guarantees about that. Perhaps researching "the effectiveness" of bull penis would be more worthwhile.
As for EIA, perhaps before attacking Taiwan with a video more than a decade old, it should first take its binoculars to the zoo for a closer look at the real article.
[Picture Caption]
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"Guess what it really looks like?" "Medical classics never mentioned tiger penis," doctors of Chinese medicine point out, and most of the marketed tiger penises are impostors. (drawing by Ada Kuo)
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