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)

This cute elephant calf was spotted after it got stuck in a pool of water and required a helping trunk from its mum to get out. The young calf looked like it was having an incredible time however, as it frolicked about in the water and could have done with some waterproofs to boot. But mum clearly knew best with her tot, when she wrapped her trunk around the youngsters body and hoisted it out of the pool. The incident which took place on the Chobe River, Botswana, was captured by Neal Cooper, 50, a professional photographer from South Africa. (Photo by Neal Cooper/Caters News)

A dhobi, or a washerman washes cloths on the banks of the River Gomti in Lucknow, India, Saturday, September 12, 2020. Dhobis are traditional laundry workers who wash clothes by hand and dry them in the sun, an occupation which has been in existence for generations. Most cities in India have a Dhobi Ghat, or washermen's area, where the city's pile of clothes is laundered. This practice is still popular in India, despite of modern technology. Around 1,000 families work in Lucknow's Dhobi Ghat. However, in light of the novel coronavirus, their wages have decreased drastically. With each family earning around US$100-200 per month. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

Female North Korean soldiers patrol along the banks of Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, April 11, 2013. South Korea and the United States were on high alert for a North Korean missile launch on Thursday as the hermit kingdom turned its attention to celebrating its ruling Kim dynasty and appeared to tone down rhetoric of impending war. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)

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A boy poses for a picture amid clashes between supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada and Iraqi security forces in Tahrir Square in the centre of Iraq's capital Baghdad on September 28, 2022, during a parliament session in the nearby high-security Green Zone across the Tigris river. Three rockets were fired at Baghdad's Green Zone, wounding seven security force personnel as parliament was holding its first session in two months, Iraq's security forces said. The parliament, at the centre of a months-long political paralysis, met for the first since deadly unrest in August to vote on the resignation of its speaker. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

A man crosses from a pirogue to another pirogue during the annual boat regatta in Yauri, Kebbi State, on February 15, 2025. The regatta festival started about 200 years ago as a display of naval strength of the Gungu people, where the Gungu warriors annually attacked dangerous hippopotamus that were destroying farmlands. Warriors would board various sizes of canoes with different types of weapons to attack the animal on the River Niger. This required expertise in canoe paddling and naval warfare. It also served as training exercise for upcoming Gungu warriors. (Photo by Toyin Adedokun/AFP Photo)

A girl of the Amazonian Tatuyo tribe poses while waiting to sell crafts to tourists in her village in the Rio Negro (Black River) near Manaus city, a World Cup host city, June 23, 2014. Because of their proximity to host city Manaus and their warm welcome, the Tatuyo have enjoyed three weeks of brisk business thanks to the World Cup. Usually, they host between 10 and 30 tourists a day. During the World Cup, this number has rocketed to 250 a day, They have become richer and other communities now come to them to sell them juices and fishes. (Photo by Andres Stapff/Reuters)