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)

Rose oil production in Bulgaria's famous Rose Valley is set to increase by 25 percent according to a mid-season estimate by experts in spite of the climate changes and economy crisis. Bulgaria is traditionally one of the biggest world exporters of high-grade rose oil along with Morocco and neighboring Turkey, with clients mostly from the United States, France, Germany, United Kingdom and Japan. Rose oil is the most commonly used essential oil in the perfume industry.

A woman spits red paint as if it is blood protesting against bullfights in Madrid, Spain on March 27, 2016. Anti-bullfighting protesters have turn the iconic square of “Puerta del Sol” into a bullring. Protesters, almost naked covered with red paint as if it was blood, have demanded the abolition of bullfights under the slogan “The bull suffers!”. (Photo by Marcos del Mazo/Pacific Press)

Cattle are the most important way of livelihood for the Karamojong: they provide milk, meat, blood and money when sold, Karamoja, Uganda, February 2017. (Photo by Sumy Sadurni/Barcroft Images)

A man with blood on his shirt is evacuated from Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Photo by Dirk Waem/Belga/Zuma Press/TNS)

Wrestlers compete in the 63rd Historical Cali Oil Wrestling Tournament, held on June 29, 2025, in Bursa, Turkiye. The event, which featured over 800 wrestlers and served as the final rehearsal for the 664th Historical Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival, is on track to become a stage of the Oil Wrestling League, now in its third season. (Photo by Mustafa Yilmaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Police officers laugh as Greenpeace activists create a burnt smoldering rain-forest with a lifelike animatronic orangutan at the headquarters of Oreo cookies, in protest over their use of palm oil on November 19, 2018 in Uxbridge, England. Greenpeace is calling on the makers of Oreo to stop buying palm oil from Wilmar, the largest palm oil producer, who they say have destroyed 70,000 hectares of Indonesian rain forest in the last two years. (Photo by Chris J. Ratcliffe for Greenpeace via Getty Images)

A protester, wearing a dress in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, is detained by security after she covered herself in fake blood on the stairs on the Festival Palace ahead of the screening of the film “Acide” during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Christophe Simon/AFP Photo)