The popular impotence drug Viagra may be reducing demand for traditional Chinese impotence remedies, many of which contain ground-up animal parts, researchers say. So Viagra may be helping to save world wildlife.

At an herbal shop in Philadelphia's Chinatown, owners report sluggish sales of a red, powdered medicine called "Strong Man."On the docks of Newfoundland, fishermen are finding it harder to peddle the private parts of seals. And on the plains of western Alaska, the trade in reindeer antlers has plummeted.

The popular impotence drug Viagra may be reducing demand for traditional Chinese impotence remedies, many of which contain ground-up animal parts, researchers say. So Viagra may be helping to save world wildlife.

The evidence, say researchers Frank and William von Hippel, is that sales of seal penises and reindeer antlers dropped sharply about the same time Viagra came on the market, in 1998.

While those two products were studied because they are legally traded and easy to monitor, there is some early indication that the Viagra effect also holds true for endangered and threatened species, ranging from sea horses to green turtles.

Environmental groups are skeptical of the benefits to seals, but animal experts say the impact on reindeer is plausible.

Pleased that their flagship product may work wonders both in the bedroom and in the realm of animal conservation, Viagra-maker Pfizer gave the researchers $25,000 for additional study in Hong Kong.

Frank von Hippel, a University of Alaska biologist, and his brother, a psychologist in New Zealand, published their most recent paper on the subject -- "Sex, drugs and animal parts: Will Viagra save threatened species?" -- in the September issue of Environmental Conservation.

Their interest began in 1998, when they were hiking in Alaska and began contemplating whether Viagra might indirectly spare some animals. Later that year, the brothers published the first of their papers in Science, proposing the theory. Other findings are awaiting publication, based on the trip to Hong Kong to interview pharmacists.

Von Hippel is quick to point out that even if his theory is correct, are other factors are contributing to the declining animal trades.

Annual sales of Alaskan reindeer antlers dropped 72 percent in 1998, the year Viagra went on sale, and remained low for two years, according to the brothers' most recent paper.

The von Hippels wrote that some of the drop could have been due to other factors, such as the Asian financial crisis.

But many consumers of the velvet from reindeer antlers are Asians living in North America, where there was no economic downturn at the time, the authors wrote. Moreover, Viagra sales were robust in Asia even during the economic crisis, they said.

Don Kratzer, who grew up in Lehighton, Pa., and now raises reindeer and spruce trees in Nenana, Alaska, said the reindeer-antler market has since rebounded somewhat.

He said Viagra might have had some temporary effect on the antler market, but said a growing number of customers are taking reindeer-velvet capsules for other purposes -- such as lowering cholesterol and maintaining a healthy heart. And some manufacturers use it in pet food.

As for the seals, the von Hippels said Canadian sealers sold 30,000 to 50,000 seal penises in 1996. In 1998, the year Viagra was launched, the figure dropped to 20,000, according to government data. The price dropped as well, to less than $20 Canadian from a high of $100, they wrote.

Yet David Lavigne, a zoologist at the International Marine Mammal Association, in Canada, was doubtful of any Viagra effect.

Sales data are sketchy because most of the seal organs are sold right on the docks and, therefore, hard to monitor, said Lavigne, the association's executive director. Moreover, he added, the government likely underestimates the numbers so Canada does not draw undue attention as "the seal penis supplier of the world."

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