A Himalayan Gold Rush

Each spring thousands of Tibetan families head to the highest Himalaya in search of a strange hybrid creature, the Caterpillar fungus. Caterpillar fungi are the result of a parasitic relationship between the fungus and the larva of the ghost moth genus Thitarodes. The use of the fungus has a long history in traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine.

In rural Tibet, the Caterpillar fungus has become the most important source of cash income. Prices have increased continuously, especially since the late 1990s. In 2008, one kilogram traded for $3,000 to over $18,000.