Viagra saving animals from being hunted for male organs, says maker

The 'little blue pill' has not only helped millions of men, its maker, Pfizer, also says the drug's availability has helped reduce the demand for the masculine body parts of endangered species - which have traditionally been used as aphrodisiacs.

In a new study funded by the drug maker, William von Hippel, a University of New South Wales psychologist, and his brother, Frank, a biologist based in Anchorage, Alaska, surveyed 256 men receiving erectile dysfunction treatment at a Hong Kong clinic.

Thirty-five men from the group said they had tried, or are still using, traditional Chinese medicine made from products such as seal penises and reindeer antler velvet to bolster their elusive manly power. But eight of them have switched to Viagra exclusively. Of the 256 men, 29 have used Viagra and none said he would try or revert to traditional Chinese cures.

The conversion to the blue pill appears to be a one-way street, and western anti-impotence pills generally help to deter men from using more traditional cures, conclude the von Hippels in their survey, published in the latest issue of international journal Environmental Conservation.

In a previous study in 2002, the brothers claimed there was a clear correlation between a drop in the sales of exotic animal parts and the popularity of Viagra.

But animal welfare groups dismissed that claim then, saying the drop was caused more by the Asian financial meltdown and its effects on the purchasing power of men in the region. They are now equally sceptical of the brothers' latest study, according to Nature, the science weekly.