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 vendor pushes an improvised cart with a woman and merchandise along a rarely used rail track in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Daily life in the capital slowly returns to normal as the Thai government eases many restrictions imposed weeks ago to combat the spread of COVID-19. Though emergency regulations require the use of face masks in public, some residents have become apathetic as Thailand has record zero local transmission for over three weeks. (Photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP Photo)

A first white-handed gibbon infant born at the Skopje Zoo is seen with his mother in Skopje, North Macedonia on May 9, 2019. (Photo by Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters)

An actor, playing the role of Jesus Christ, is whipped by a Roman soldier as he falls during a Way of the Cross reenactment, as part of Holy Week celebrations, in Atyra, Paraguay, Friday, March 29, 2024. Holy Week commemorates the last week of Jesus' earthly life which culminates with his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. (Photo by Jorge Saenz/AP Photo)

“La Diablada” dancers take part in a celebration in honor of the Virgin del Carmen, patron saint of Chile, in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, July 16, 2022. Hundreds of cowboys in woolen ponchos and families on wooden horse carts lined up to receive a priest's blessing in the huge esplanade in front of the National Sanctuary of Maipu on Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Esteban Felix/AP Photo)

In this Friday, May 10, 2019, file photo, rescuers help a baby wild elephant cross the wetland to return to the forest at Deepor Beel wildlife sanctuary in Gauhati, India. The elephant had gotten stuck in the waters of Deepor Beel after it was separated from a herd of wild elephant that came down in search of food last night. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

A staff member of Sony Computer Entertainment tries out PlayStation 4's virtual reality headset Project Morpheus at its booth in Tokyo Game Show 2014 in Makuhari, east of Tokyo September 18, 2014. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

A zoo performer smiles as he puts his head between the jaws of a crocodile during a performance for tourists at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, in Chonburi province, east of Bangkok,Thailand, June 7, 2016. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)