Friday, 3 July 2009
At least nine people died in rural Nepal in a fight that broke out when groups gathering the valuable caterpillar fungus clashed in the mountains near Tibet, national media reported on Friday.
The incident is believed to have occurred on June 10, but has only just been discovered due to the remoteness of the area.
The fungus, known locally as yartsa gunbu, grows in the larvae of ghost moths high in the Himilayas, and has been used in Tibetan and Chinese medicine for hundreds of years. It is used as an aphrodisiac and a cure for a range of illnesses, and trades for thousands of dollars per kilogram.
The dispute occurred in Manang in Nepal's Gorkha District when villagers objected to a group of outsiders searching for the fungus in their area. Seven of the group were killed in the ensuing violence, and two others fell off a cliff while running away from the villagers, the Kathmandu Post said.
Six of the villagers have been arrested by police in connection with the killings. An investigation has been launched.
The fungus has been nicknamed "Himalayan Viagra" for its aphrodisiac properties, and is sold to countries worldwide as a treatment for impotency. Its high value makes it an important source of income for rural populations in the Himalayas, and causes regular turf wars.
The larvae are found mainly during May and June at an altitude of around 4,000 meters in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet.
