Editing Monitor lizard (section)

=== Traditional medicines ===
Monitor lizards are poached in some South- and Southeast Asian countries, as their organs and fat are used in some [[traditional medicine]]s, although there is no [[scientific evidence]] as to their effectiveness.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/wildlife-watch-india-monitor-lizard-poaching-plant-root-hatha-jodi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303205156/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/wildlife-watch-india-monitor-lizard-poaching-plant-root-hatha-jodi|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 3, 2021|title=How Lizard Genitalia Became a Black Market Craze|website=[[National Geographic Society]] |date=7 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/pets-and-environment/040717/visakhapatnam-monsoon-activates-monitor-lizard-poaching.html|title = Visakhapatnam: Monsoon activates monitor lizard poaching|date = 4 July 2017}}</ref>
[[File:Road kill lizard. India - Flickr - gailhampshire.jpg|thumb|A dead monitor in India, with its hemipenes removed. Monitor hemipenes are often trafficked and illegally sold.]]
The dried and dyed [[Hemipenis|hemipenes]] of [[Bengal monitor|Bengal monitors]], and less often [[Yellow monitor|yellow]] and [[Asian water monitor|water monitors]], are frequently trafficked and illegally sold in India and online under the deceptive term 'Hatha Jodi', where it is claimed to be the root of a supposed rare Himalayan plant in order to fool buyers and retailers, and to disguise the trade from wildlife authorities. Sellers advertise 'Hatha Jodi' as having the [[Tantra|tantric]] power to bring wealth, power and contentment. A pair of hemipenes may sell at a value of up to US$250.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=D'Cruze |first1=N. |last2=Singh |first2=B. |last3=Mookerjee |first3=A. |last4=Macdonald |first4=D.W. |last5=Hunter |first5=K. |last6=Brassey |first6=C.A. |last7=Rowntree |first7=J. |last8=Megson |first8=S. |last9=Megson |first9=D. |last10=Fox |first10=G. |last11=Louies |first11=J. |last12=Sharath |first12=R.S. |date=2018 |title=What's in a name? Wildlife traders evade authorities using code words |journal=Oryx |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=13 |doi=10.1017/S0030605317001788 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In India, the body oil of monitor lizards is sold for thousands of [[Indian rupee|Indian rupees]] to residents in metropolitan cities as a treatment for [[rheumatism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bhattacharya |first1=S. |last2=Koch |first2=A. |date=2018 |title=Hatha Jodi: An Illegal Trade of Misused Scientific Facts or Blindfolded Myths and Beliefs? |journal=Biawak |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=97–99}}</ref>

Monitor lizard meat, particularly the tongue and liver, is eaten in parts of India and Malaysia and is supposed to be an [[aphrodisiac]].<ref name="Parameswaran2006">{{cite journal | title=Case series of eosinophilic meningoencephalitis from South India | last1=Parameswaran | first1=K | journal=Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology | volume=9 | issue=4 | pages=217–222 | year=2006 |doi=10.4103/0972-2327.29203| doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>[http://themalaysianlife.blogspot.com/2009/04/eating-biawak.html Eating Biawak]. The Malaysian Life (April 2009)</ref>

Consuming raw blood and flesh of monitor lizards has been reported to cause [[eosinophil]]ic [[meningoencephalitis]], as some monitors are hosts for the parasitic nematode ''[[Angiostrongylus cantonensis]]''.<ref name="Parameswaran2006" />