Surging demand drives ‘Himalayan Viagra’ to brink of extinction
- Ophiocordyceps sinensis, the world’s most expensive fungus, is being threatened by overharvesting
- Chinese herbalists believe it boosts sexual performance and an ounce can fetch up to three times the price of gold in Beijing
A parasitic fungus that grows inside the ghost moth caterpillar and then kills its host by bursting through its head is itself threatened with extinction, the IUCN said on Thursday, as demand surges for Chinese medicine’s “Himalayan Viagra”.
Ophiocordyceps sinensis, the world’s most expensive fungus, only grows on the Tibetan Plateau where it has become the main source of income for some communities.
Overharvesting has slashed populations by at least 30 per cent in the last 15 years, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which has now listed it as “vulnerable” to extinction in its directory of threatened animal and plant species.
“This is one of the few documented cases of a fungus being threatened by overharvesting,” said Gregory Mueller, who heads up IUCN’s Fungal Conservation Committee.
He said there needed to be a sustainable harvest programme to protect both the fungus and the communities that rely on it for their incomes.