A Kenyan acrobatic member of the Mighty Jambo Circus Academy performs a stunt during their training routine at the academy in Nairobi, Kenya, 13 January 2021. (Photo by Daniel Irungu/EPA/EFE)

During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

Pedestrians look at “doll” model Lulu Hashimoto standing on the street during a photo opportunity for Reuters in Tokyo, Japan August 23, 2017. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Australian professional boxers Ebanie Bridges (L) and Shannon O'Connell weigh-in ahead of their IBF World Bantamweight Title fight during the weigh in at Aspire, Leeds, United Kingdom on Friday, December 9, 2022. (Photo by Tim Goode/PA Wire)

A man sits outside after an earthquake in Antakya in Hatay province, Turkey on February 20, 2023. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

Early morning paddle boarder enjoys late days of summer on Trent Severn Waterway in Rosedale, Ont., Thursday, September 3, 2020. (Photo by Canadian Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Actors perform during the ice sculptures festival “Ice Moscow” in Moscow, Russia, 06 January 2025. (Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA/EFE)

Members of the Turkana community work unblocking an irrigation canal to provide water to their sorghum crops in an arid dry area in Nanyee, near Lodwar, Turkana County, Kenya, on October 1, 2019. Turkana is a vast, dry area in the north-west of Kenya that is on the frontline of climate change. With regular searing temperatures the Turkana people are suffering from recurring and prolonged droughts. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP Photo)