PETA demands Marines stop drinking cobra blood, swallowing scorpions
(KMOX) - PETA is getting involved after photos surfaced of U.S. Marines drinking cobra blood and swallowing scorpions as part of the annual Cobra Gold 2020 military exercise.
The bizarre photos came from Thailand where soldiers from around the world come together for humanitarian civic action, community engagement, medical activities and jungle survival skills, like drinking snake blood to stay hydrated when drinking water isn't available.
However, PETA didn't approve of what it called "the crude killing of animals," and compared the exercise to "a frat party gone wrong." They demanded in a letter sent to Marine Commandant Gen. David H. Berger that Cobra Gold be replaced with "technology-based survival training courses" instead.
The acts that PETA is referring to are part of the Thai-led survival training, which includes drinking cobra blood, killing chickens, eating geckos and consuming some live creatures as part of survival preparedness.
This was the 39th annual exercise in the series, which the Marine's advertise as "the largest joint multinational military exercise in the Indo-Pacific region and is an integral part of the U.S. commitment to strengthen engagement in the region for a #FreeandOpenIndoPacific."
