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 robot, developed by start-up firm Asimov Robotics, holds a tray with face masks and sanitizer after the two robots were launched to spread awareness about the coronavirus, in Kochi, India, March 17, 2020. (Photo by Sivaram V/Reuters)

Members of the contemporary circus company Cirk La Putyka perform in front of sculpture of Franz Kafka's head to entertain local residents in Prague, Czech Republic, 21 April 2020. The aim of the Cirk La Putyka events in the streets of Czech capital is to get live art back to people during the lockdown. According to them, when people can't go to the artists, to the theater, the actors go to the people. The Czech government has imposed a lockdown in an attempt to slow down the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. (Photo by Martin Divisek/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

South Korean emergency services personnel wearing protective clothing participate in an anti-terror and anti-chemical terror drill on the sidelines of the joint South Korea-US Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) military exercise, at a shopping mall in Seoul on August 23, 2022. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

A child sits in a walkway at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Photo by Odelyn Joseph/AP Photo)

A biker carrying huge bags of recyclables travels on a street outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Saturday, March 27, 2021. (Photo by Heng Sinith/AP Photo)

A camel rider push his camel in the annual Wadi Zalaga competition between two rival Bedouin tribes in the South Sinai region, Egypt on January 10, 2023. (Photo by Celestino Arce/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

New Forest ponies graze as the sun rises over Godshill in the New Forest, Hants on September 18, 2022, on the day before the Queen's state funeral tomorrow. (Photo by Claire Sheppard/Solent News & Photo Agency)