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)

A protester from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) displays a placard from a bathtub as a people looks on during a demonstration to call on the public to eat more vegetables to save water, in Sao Paulo on August 2, 2016. (Photo by Cris Faga via ZUMA Wire)

Young Ian Archibald ponders the consequences of a complex critical study of beauty contestants during the Miss TV Times finals in London. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). 30 July 1971

Brooks Nader and her sisters, Mary Holland, Grace Ann, and Sarah Jane announce Season 2 of “Love Thy Nader” with a photoshoot in Los Angeles on November 24, 2025. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France perform during the ice dance skating event at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating final in Barcelona December 13, 2014. (Photo by Albert Gea/Reuters)

Kayla Amara sprays down their home as the Hughes Fire burns in Castaic, California, U.S. January 22, 2025. (Photo by Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters)

Dancers wearing new bikinis perform in front of passers-by and a line of photographers during a promotional flash mob event on a square outside Shinjuku station in Tokyo on July 18, 2016. The event was organized by the Japan Swimsuit Association to promote new swimwear. (Photo by Toru Yamanaka/AFP Photo)

A vervet monkey passes in front of a woman on the shores of lake Naivasha, Kenya January 24, 2017. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)