A demand for crocodile penis is driving people in Egypt to illegally poach and traffic Nile crocodiles writes Peter Schwartzstein in National Geographic.
Former hunter Assad Ibrahim told him that some Egyptians – and people in East Africa – eat the crocodile penis crushed up with honey and ginger, believing it will improve their sex lives.
The largest ones sell for more than $100, he adds.
A poacher, who he names only as Mahmoud, told him smugglers are exporting record numbers of crocodiles – perhaps up to 3,500 eggs and hatchlings and a few hundred adult live crocs a year.
But these are mainly to the Arabian Gulf, as Saudi Arabians want the crocodiles as household ornaments, he writes.
He says hunting really took off in the chaos after the Tahrir Square uprising of 2011.