Newton County Times' Outhouse Companion
They Rely On This Lizard To Heal Their Pain. Now It's Endangered.
La Paz, BoliviaOn a sunny morning in the Bolivian Andes, Victoria Flores herds llamas and alpacas through snowy wetlands and crystal-clear natural springs that bubble from the earth. Suddenly, an olive-colored lizard pops up from its lair.
The six-inch-long reptile, called a jararanko—which translates to "lizard" in the Indigenous Aymara language—climbs onto a rock, basking in the sunlight. While it's distracted, Flores leans down and catches it, smashing the animal to death with a stick.
"Sometimes the jararanko is scary—it chases you and bites you," says Flores, who is Aymara, and kills the animals legally for use in traditional medicine.
Andean chacaltaya lizard Liolaemus forsteri
Photograph by Andres SalamancaPlease be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
She will use the animal's ground-up remains as a "lizard patch," a supposed healing method to treat muscular ailments.
Back at home, she'll grind its meat in a stone mill and mix it with wild herbs such as wichullo, black kettle, and arnica, until it turns into a pasty green mass that she places on top of her injury. We "patch ourselves up because here there is no pharmacy, no medicines, none of that. So, we use the jararanko," she says.
But soon, there may be none of the lizards left, either.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Liolaemus forsteri, or the Forster's tree iguana, as endangered, according to the Red Book of the Vertebrate Wildlife of Bolivia.
Spiritual leaders and alternative medicine doctors visit a mural depicting Mother Earth in El Alto, the second-largest city in Bolivia, in June 2023. People offer alcohol and coca leaves at this site as a symbol of respect for nature.
Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Native only to Bolivia, where it's called jararanko, the reptile dwells in the high valley that surrounds the city of La Paz, between elevations of around 13,400 to 16,200 feet.
Besides its collection for use in traditional medicine, the species is also imperiled by habitat loss due to mining and development.
Bolivian law allows Indigenous nations to kill the animal for traditional medicine as long as it's used for subsistence purposes, within their ancestral territory, and with practices prior to the Spanish invasion.
Bruno Miranda, a biologist with Bolivia's Network of Researchers in Herpetology, adds there's no scientific study to date that supports the lizards' medicinal properties.
Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Left: Jararanko lizards dwell in the high valley that surrounds the city of La Paz, between elevations of around 13,400 to 16,200 feet.
Right: An ointment containing jararanko lizard is for sale at a natural-medicine market in La Paz.
In fact, "you can expose yourself to certain infectious agents that can be harmful, or that can cause certain types of zoonotic diseases," such as salmonellosis.
"So, it seems to me that these practices should be re-evaluated in current times," Miranda says.
Black-market reptilesJararanko as an ingredient in traditional Andean medicine has deep roots, dating back to pre-Columbian times. (Read about the biggest global raid of illegally traded reptiles.)
"We learned it from my grandfather. When we hurt ourselves, he healed us like this," says Flores, who uses this same practice, called zootherapy, with her children today.
A distilled mixture of lizards and herbs are on sale at a clandestine market in El Alto. The substance is marketed as a liniment for sore muscles or as raw materials for making ointments.
Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Her main concern, she says, is outsiders coming into her valley to capture jararankos. "They carry them in drums supposedly for sale, for medicine, maybe on the 16 de Julio Fair."
As I wander the weekly popular flea market, sprawling across about 200 blocks in the city of El Alto, the smell of smoldering charcoal sends an aromatic scent into the air.
Throughout the 16 de Julio market, one of the largest in Latin America, I counted 25 live jararanko lizards on sale at four different stalls.
"You can't take pictures!" a woman yelled as I put my cell phone closer to a glass box containing the live reptiles.
At the entrance of the traditional medicine center Kallawaya Ametra, a sign advertises medical treatments for "dislocations, fractures, fissures, detachments, and others." Those include coca leaf treatments, celebrations to cleanse evil spirits, and rituals to venerate spirits that protect communities. Inside, Eleodoro Soto Huacatite welcomes me at his desk.
Soto is a healer from the Amarete community (locally known as Kallawayas), in the nearby city of Charazani, known for its ancestral medicinal uses. "Our grandparents, before the time of the Incas, worked with traditional medicine, all-natural. I have been working for almost 44 years in this small stall."
Gumercindo Ticona Lipe performs a healing ritual for a construction worker client (who would not give his name) using jararanko and other ingredients in El Alto in June 2022. Amautas, or healers, offer guidance for treating physical ailments such as rheumatoid arthritis, bone fractures, or any intense muscular pain.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
When I ask about jararanko, he says "the lizard has a healing property that is astringent—it absorbs bruises and regenerates fractures or fissures."
He then describes grinding the lizard into a paste, as Flores does, and patching it on an injured area for 24 hours. "The pain is gone by the next day."
A popular practiceSoto acknowledges the law against killing jararankos, except the permitted use for traditional medicine for subsistence purposes within the ancestral territory. But he doesn't agree with it.
"I don't know why the Parliament decided that it is forbidden to use animals. The lizard saves lives, because if you have a fracture somewhere far from the city where there is no [medical] center, how do you save yourself?"
And even if there were such facilities available, "in cities where modern health services are more accessible and specialized, many people continue to go to traditional healers, showing the cultural acceptability of such practices," according to a 2011 study on zootherapy.
Overall, zootherapy in Latin America is understudied, especially considering its widespread use, the authors write.
Zootherapy "not only poses a challenge for conservation, but also represents a serious threat to the health of many human communities."
These lizards, kept alive in a plastic bottle, were later sacrificed and mixed with plants as part of a traditional healing ritual in El Alto, Bolivia, in June 2023.
Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Cracking down on wildlife crimeFor Rodrigo Herrera, an environmental lawyer from La Paz who has worked on several wildlife-trafficking cases in Bolivia, the law sets clear limits.
"Any wild animal that is being traded can be rescued and the trader must be penalized," he says.
"Society has to be aware and stop demanding these types of products. Because there is no certainty that these ointments made with wild animals will relieve any kind of pain." (See 10 intriguing photos of reptiles.)
In 2015, following a complaint by the Ministry of the Environment, the police and Public Ministry raided a stall selling jararanko parts and ointment at the 16 de Julio Fair. The vendor violated the constitutional exception to harvesting jararanko "since he was selling the parts to people outside the Kallawaya nation, [and therefore] it was no longer for his subsistence, but for profit," Herrera says.
Herrera, who served as the plaintiff on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment's case against the vendor, said during the subsequent trial there is no ethnological evidence that determines the city of El Alto was part of any original Indigenous nation. The vendor was sentenced to three years in jail, Herrera says.
In December 2021, authorities removed 61 jararanko lizards from local markets, which were eventually taken to Vesty Pakos Biopark, a wildlife rehabilitation center. In 2012, the biopark received 560 jararankos confiscated under similar circumstances, says park veterinarian Fortunato Choque.
With the increased policing, sellers have changed the way they sell the reptiles, for instance displaying five or 10 animals while keeping the rest inside their stall, Choque says.
What's more, they "no longer sell entire animals. They crush them and sell them as cream."
Raúl Rodríguez, the national director of the Forestry and Environmental Protection Police (POFOMA), said that many vendors are "low-income people who see a way to earn some money through indiscriminate hunting and subsequent commercialization."
Part of the solution, Miranda says, may be environmental education, specifically in the communities where this species is being poached. ''I believe that working with children in education, is essential, to teach them respect for their own environment.''
Part of the ecosystemBack at the wetland with Flores, the llamas and alpacas of Victoria Flores continue to graze peacefully. Sitting next to her aguayo (a traditional multicolored Andean bag), she reaffirms the importance of jararankos in her life.
"I would tell the authorities not to ban it. I'm not saying this to sell the product—the jararanko actually cures."
Miranda, who has studied L. Forsteri for five years in the Bolivian Andes, disagrees.
He's seen direct evidence of poaching in areas where rocks were strewn about in the search for the jararankos. Notably, these areas also had fewer of the reptiles.
"They are part of the ecosystem," Miranda says. "You just have to appreciate them."
The National Geographic Society supports Wildlife Watch, our investigative reporting project focused on wildlife crime and exploitation. Read more Wildlife Watch stories here, and send tips, feedback, and story ideas to NGP.WildlifeWatch@natgeo.Com. Learn about the National Geographic Society's nonprofit mission at natgeo.Com/impact.This story was produced with support of the Internews Earth Journalism Network and the National Endowment for Democracy.
Huge 'Godzilla' Lizard Terrorizes 7-Eleven As It Climbs Up Walls, Invades Fridges
"I was mesmerized by the lizard," onlooker Buntita, 20, told viral press of the critter's scaly shopping spree.ViralPress/Buntita r. Thankfully, the lizard was "friendly" and "didn't hurt anybody," according to a college student, who said the massive mart-y crasher was eventually removed from the scene.
Monitor lizards can reportedly grow up to 8 feet long, making them the world's second-largest lizard after the Komodo dragon, according to
Everything Reptiles.Fortunately, despite their massive size, the opportunistic predators don't pose a threat to adult humans, instead choosing to feast on everything from eggs to small mammals and carrion, according to experts at the
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. (However, a dead infant was found partially eaten by monitors in southern Thailand in May 2020.)
Thankfully, no one was hurt during the lizard's shopping spree.ViralPress/Buntita r. This isn't the first time one of these mammoth predators has caused mayhem at a mini-mart.
In an infamous incident in 2021, a massive Asian water monitor
was filmed ransacking shelves at a 7-Eleven in Bangkok like a lizardy looter.From Erectile Dysfunction To Heart Attacks – How Snake, Spider And Dragon Venom Could Save You
VENOM is usually used by nature to kill you — but some sources can actually help boost your health.
From treating blood clots to erectile dysfunction, deadly toxins in snakes, spiders and Komodo dragons have been harnessed for medical use.
1
Venom from snakes, spiders and Komodo dragons have a range of medical benefits, including treating high blood pressure and erectile dysfunctionSome could even save lives, by helping prevent heart attacks in the long term.
SnakesFrom Harry Potter to the Bible, snakes have always been a symbol of danger and malevolence.
Bites from some types can kill in mere seconds, destroying blood vessels and causing internal bleeding.
However, venom from the Brazilian pit viper — one of the world's deadliest snakes — has formed the basis of lifesaving drugs.
Captopril is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for treating high blood pressure.
The drug can also be used after a heart attack or for heart failure patients under close medical supervision, although it is rarely prescribed today.
The active ingredient in the drug was originally derived from the snake venom, according to the British Heart Foundation.
Venoms from the dusky pygmy rattlesnake and saw-scaled viper have also been used in drugs like eptifibatide and tirofiban, which are used for chest pain.
Most read in Health
HARD TASK
The 10 jobs that 'increase your risk of erectile dysfunction'
DOUBLE CHECK
How menopause symptoms could be mistaken for 6 other serious conditions
HIDDEN HAZARDS
The 10 surprising things you could be accidentally 'overdosing' on every day
TOP STUFF
3 exercises that are a waste of time to get rid of your muffin top & 3 that workResearch has also shown snake venoms can help treat blood clots without the risk of additional bleeding.
A study, published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, showed purified snake venoms helped patients without putting them at risk.
Dr Tur-Fu Huang, of National Taiwan University, said: "Snake venoms contain many biological components that affect hemostasis."
SpidersScientists have been puzzled for decades by the Brazilian wandering spider's ability to cause "long and painful erections".
A bite from the creepy crawly can be deadly, as well as causing the strange symptom.
However, they now believe they can harness the power of the spider with a rub-on gel for erectile dysfunction.
Brazilian researchers are currently trialling the gel, with 72 men undergoing tests and results expected in the spring.
Professor Maria Elena De Lima, of Federal University of Minas Gerais, said: "Tests have demonstrated that the compound works without any toxicity, as it is practically not detected in the bloodstream.
"The big advantage is that the approval of topical medications tends to be much faster, due to the lower possibility of adverse side effects."
Trials in 2019 showed the molecule improved blood flow to the penis by 113 per cent when applied as a gel.
The compound, called BZ371A, helped men achieve erections within half an hour.
It is thought to work by boosting levels of nitric oxide, which opens the blood vessels in the penis — allowing more blood in during arousal.
Scientists are now preparing phase 2 clinical trials to test the drug on men who have had prostate removal surgery because of cancer.
If successful, tests will be expanded and carried out at hospitals before the manufacturer Biozeus seeks approval for use more widely.
Komodo dragonsThe largest lizard on earth — the Komodo dragon — has venom glands loaded with toxins that lower blood pressure, cause massive bleeding, prevent clotting and induce shock.
In the wild, the three-metre, 14 stone beasts use this to kill prey, including deer, pigs, water buffalo and even other dragons.
However, like with the pit viper, scientists have found the venom can be used to treat excessive blood clotting.
Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia studied a range of lizard venoms including the Mexican beaded lizard and earless monitor lizard.
Their study, published in the journal Toxins, found the venoms could hold potential for blood thinning drugs in future.
Dr Ivan Koludarov said: "While snake venoms have been the subject of intense study, comparatively little work has been done on lizard venoms.
"The high level of venom chemistry variation in varanid lizards compared to that of helodermatid lizards suggests that venom may be subject to different selection pressures in these two families.
"These results not only contribute to our understanding of venom evolution but also reveal anguimorph lizard venoms to be rich sources of novel bioactive molecules with potential as drug design and development lead compounds."
Comments
Post a Comment