A “magical” root that people are ordering online may actually be dried hemipenis of monitor lizards

Many people place online orders for a rare Indian “magical” root, called Hatha Jodi, to bring good luck in their lives. The specialty of this root is that it looks like two praying hands. However, a nonprofit group World Animal Protection and scientists at Manchester Metropolitan University in England have cautioned that people may actually be getting a dried hemipenis of monitor lizards in place of the Hatha Jodi. Interestingly some people may also have got plastic moldings of lizard penises.

Hatha Jodi is a root that appears like two people holding hands, perhaps in prayer. This root, in some tantric traditions, is believed to bring the good luck to the bearer. The root is very rare and is found in remote areas of Nepal and India. According to World Animal Protection, the scam has now reached Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba, and Etsy as poachers are selling the penises of monitor lizards in place of Hatha Jodi. Customers who order the root are mainly from the “Asian diaspora in the UK, other parts of Europe and the US.” The rare root is being sold for as much as $250 in the market.

Poaching the monitor lizards is illegal under Indian law and recently, Indian police seized 210 dried lizard penises in their raids.

“Some will have their throats slit or their skulls smashed in before their genitals are removed for use as ‘Hatha Jodi’ and others will still be alive when this process begins,” the organization said in a statement.

“If left unchecked,” Aniruddha Mookerjee, the lead investigator in the case, said in a statement, “this demand could grow to the extent that it pushes some wild populations over the edge.”