Monks dressed as Tibetan Buddhism characters attend a religious ceremony, known as “Da Gui” or beating ghost, to celebrate the upcoming Tibetan New Year which starts on March 1 at Yonghegong Lama Temple, in Beijing February 28, 2014. This Tibetan ceremony is held annually at the end of the first lunar month with mask dancing to expel ghosts, according to a press release. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

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)

Gers, traditional Mongolian tents, are seen on a hill in an area known as a ger district in Ulan Bator June 26, 2013. Approximately 60 percent of the population of Ulan Bator live in settlements known as ger districts and in many cases residents have limited access to basic services such as water and sanitation. According to a 2010 National Population Center census, every year between thirty and forty thousand people migrate from the countryside to the capital Ulan Bator. Ger districts in the city have been expanding rapidly in recent years. Mongolia is the world's least densely populated country, with 2.8 million people spread across an area around three times the size of France. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

A man from Dinka tribe holds his AK-47 rifle in front of cows in a Dinka cattle herders camp near Rumbek, capital of the Lakes State in central South Sudan December 14, 2013. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, October 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)

A person looks out at Midtown Manhattan in the haze from the Top of the Rock NYC Observation Deck at Rockefeller Center on June 7, 2023. Smoke from Canada’s wildfires has engulfed the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US, raising concerns over the harms of persistent poor air quality. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

A resident jumps as he watches strong waves crash into shore as an effect of Typhoon Hagupit in Legazpi, Albay province, eastern Philippines on Sunday, December 7, 2014. Typhoon Hagupit knocked out power in entire coastal provinces, mowed down trees and sent more than 650,000 people into shelters before it weakened Sunday, sparing the central Philippines a repetition of unprecedented devastation by last year's storm. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

Looking for love by Tony Wu, USA. Highly commended, Animal Portraits. “Accentuating his mature appearance with pastel colours, protruding lips and an outstanding pink forehead, this Asian sheepshead wrasse sets out to impress females and see off rivals, which he will head-butt and bite, near Japan’s remote Sado Island. Individuals start out as females, and when they reach a certain age and size – up to a metre (more than 3 feet) long – can transform into males. Long-lived and slow-growing, the species is intrinsically vulnerable to overfishing”. (Photo by Tony Wu/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year)