The Viagra Wars

摘要

Could a little blue pill be the savior of endangered animals? Conservationists are having none of it. BEFORE GETTING HIS BIG idea, William von Hippel sat through an otherwise unexceptional lecture on traditional Chinese medicine in 1997. As China adopts Western habits--sedentary jobs, stressful urban lives, poor diets--its citizens are also picking up Western afflictions. Cases of impotence are on the rise, and so is the demand for traditional cures like seal penises, sea horses, geckos and other exotic ingredients that many Chinese believe confer virility. The problem: the growing demand for these ingredients is driving many species of wildlife to the blink of extinction, Von Hippel, a psychologist at the University of New South Wales in Aus-tralia, was intrigued enough to visit apothecaries in Hong Kong and Beijing, where he saw a bewildering array of dried penises in all shapes and sizes. Then, in 1998, Viagra made its debut in the West.