When we discuss the use of medicines derived from tigers (and other endangered species), it is important to make a distinction between the formal discipline of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the loose and often provincial collection of beliefs usually grouped under the rubric: Asian Folk Medicine. This distinction is particularly important when it comes to the (often contentious) interactions between conservationists and practitioners of TCM.

Many doctors and practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine are angered by the suggestion by some environmentalists that tiger parts are prescribed as aphrodisiacs in TCM. Tiger parts, and tiger derived medicines -- especially tiger bone, tiger bone plaster, and tiger bone pills -- have indeed been constituents of the official pharmacopoeia of TCM, even appearing in textbooks used at Universities in Beijing as late as the early nineties and unfortunately, continue to be used to this day. However, tiger bone derivatives are principally used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other bone and joint related illnesses, and have never been used as aphrodisiacs within TCM. Supporters of TCM who may already be defensive about criticism from environmentalists, feeling that they and their culture are under attack from the West, point to this misconception as prima facie evidence of the ignorance and hostility of Conservationists in Europe and America. The entirely correct and justified refutation of this misconception about the use of tiger parts as aphrodisiacs in TCM, however, has led to an equally unsupportable claim, namely that tiger parts are never used as aphrodisiacs in Asia. This too is untrue, as the desire for tiger based aphrodisiacs is in fact one of the principle components in the illicit web of tiger poaching, trading, and smuggling which engulfs much of Asia, and threatens wild tiger populations everywhere from India to Siberia. The important distinction is that the use of tiger penis as an aphrodisiac is not part of TCM, but rather is a near ubiquitous aspect of local folk custom throughout Asia. In other words the belief that tiger penis soup, or tiger penis wine will increase potency is more akin to Western superstitions about the powers of oysters or snake oil tonics, for instance, than to anything used by any legitimate doctor of medicine East or West.

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