Peru seizes hundreds of frogs used as aphrodisiacs

Peruvian authorities said Thursday they had seized hundreds of endangered frogs from Lake Titicaca that were illegally captured to be used for their purported aphrodisiac properties. The national forestry and wildlife service said it found 390 frogs in a cardboard box inside a truck in the Puno region on the shores of the huge lake on Peru's border with Bolivia.

The shipment was bound for the Peruvian capital Lima, where the frogs are widely used in traditional medicine as well as in medicinal properties. The Lake Titicaca frog is one of the largest species of aquatic frogs in the world, is native to Peru and part of Bolivia. Wildlife trafficking is a crime punishable by fines of over $14,500 in Peru, over 50 times the minimum monthly wage.