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)

Afghan children wait as their mothers receive treatment at a USAID-funded health center on September 7, 2011 in Farza, Afghanistan. Almost 10 years after the 9/11 attacks and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. government funds some of 500 Afghan health facilities nationwide, most run by non-governmental organizations contracted by the Afghan Ministry of Public Health. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

A visiitor bungee jumps during an outdoor festival to celebrate German Unity Day on the 21st anniversary of German reunification on October 3, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. German Unity Day is a national holiday and marks the day West Germany and East Germany were reunited in 1990 following the collapse of the Iron Curtain. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)

In this photograph taken on October 27, 2017 an Afghan woman collects saffron flowers after picking them in a field on the outskirt of Herat For years, Afghanistan has tried to give farmers alternatives such as fruit crops and saffron to wean them away from poppy farming – the lifeblood of the Taliban insurgency. International donors have splurged billions of dollars on counter- narcotics efforts in Afghanistan over the past decade, including efforts to encourage farmers to switch to other cash crops such as saffron. But those efforts have shown little results. (Photo by Hoshang Hashimi/AFP Photo)

Canadian fashion model Winnie Harlow poses on the red carpet during the MTV Europe Music Awards, in Budapest, Hungary, November 14, 2021. (Photo by Marton Monus/Reuters)

A dog looks at a five-meter-long sperm whale stranded at San Bartolo beach, in Lima, on August 20, 2019. Surfers and policemen saved Tuesday an injured whale which remained stranded some hours at a beach in southern Lima, police informed. (Photo by Ernesto Benavides/AFP Photo)

An ostrich is seen at Woburn Safari park before its opening as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions begin to ease, in Woburn, Britain on April 11, 2021. (Photo by Andrew Boyers/Reuters)

Revellers light firecrackers during Diwali, a Hindu festival of lights, in New Delhi on November 12, 2023. (Photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP Photo)