Wrap it with goat skin and fur that has been dyed orange with black stripes.

Finally, attach 'claws' made of carved cow horn and voila, you have a tiger paw.

Want a tiger penis?

Get a cow's leg tendons, fashion a testicle-like bag out of it and trim the coiled end to produce 'barbs'.

We're not talking about the work of museum taxidermists here.

Rather, the people who will go to such lengths to create fake tiger parts and allegedly trying to sell them.

That's what the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) found when it raided traditional medicine shops following The New Paper's expose last October. Posing as interested buyers, we got three shopkeepers in Chinatown to show us bones, penises and paws which they claimed were from tigers.

Since 1986, it has been illegal to import and export tigers under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Flora and Fauna (Cites).

SALE AND DISPLAY BANNED

Singapore also banned the sale and display of tiger parts in 1994.

Ms Lye Fong Keng, head of AVA's wildlife regulatory branch, said shops in Bugis Village, Chinatown, South Bridge Road and Temple Street were raided.

The police also nabbed two Indian nationals who claimed to be selling tiger parts, including two tiger skins.

Out of 20 shops, six were found to be selling fake tiger parts.

'AVA confiscated 18 penises, 12 limb bones and three paws. The shops claimed these were from tigers but the story changed when AVA officers revealed their identity.

'They then said the parts were brought in by an Indonesian man who supplies them with fake parts. Each fake tiger penis is sold for $100 to $250,' said Ms Lye.

Visual examinations of the parts were done by Cites officers, two zoo vets and
Mr Chris Shepherd of Traffic South-east Asia, a wildlife trade monitoring network based in Kuala Lumpur.

The experts confirmed that the confiscated specimens were not genuine.

The bones had to be looked at carefully as it is quite challenging to identify where they came from.

When there's a need to confirm the species of a bone, AVA's veterinary public health laboratory can do this using DNA testing.

The 'tiger skins' seized were also found to be fake as the colours were fading.

AVA has referred these cases to the police as cheating cases.

Mr Shepherd commended AVA on its efforts to control any possible tiger parts trade here.

He advised people to check the ingredients of medicines to ensure they are not buying anything that may contain protected wildlife parts. And if they see shops claiming to sell protected wildlife parts, they should immediately report it to AVA.

On its part, AVA will continue to conduct surprise checks on these shops to ensure they do not sell tiger parts, be they real or fake.

AVA officers also meet traditional Chinese medicine associations to educate and remind them not to trade in endangered species.

Ms Lye said: 'Real tiger parts such as penises are taken as love potions or aphrodisiacs but there has been no scientific proof. We educate the public not to buy these so-called 'tiger' penises, paws and claws.