Some people have dedicated their lives to protecting endangered rare animals. In Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a group of locals organized themselves into the Melipona Bee Guardians Network (MBGN), which revived the ancient Mayans’ tradition of caring for, breeding and protecting a threatened native species of pollinators, CNN reported.

MBGN members, who are all women, derived benefits as guardians of the stingless Melipona bees: protecting the environment and earning money from selling their honey.

The 14-year-old organization’s meliponaries, or bee farm structures, produce limited amounts of honey that have more health benefits than honey produced by other bee species because the bees forage on medicinal plants.

“Melipona honey helps the immune system, heals disease, wounds and burns, and is also used to make products like soaps and creams,” beekeeper Hau Jiménez told CNN.

Meanwhile, a 77-year-old snakebite doctor on China’s Mangshan mountain switched to breeding snakes in 1989 when he became intrigued by a rare viper dubbed the “little green dragon.”

Chen Yuanhui bought 23 eggs of the snake from a poacher using money saved by his family to buy a refrigerator, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

After verifying with experts that it was a new species, Chen became the official discoverer of the venomous Mangshan pit viper (Protobothrops mangshanensis).

Chen learned that only about 200 Mangshan pit vipers existed, so he dedicated his life to studying, protecting and breeding the species at his home before later releasing them on the mountain, according to SCMP.

By 2022, Chen had bred 160 Mangshan pit vipers, increasing the snake’s population to 600.

He was also bitten by the snake nine times but survived. After the last bite, Chen chose to photograph the bite marks for scientific records instead of applying first aid during the first critical minutes, SCMP reported.

As a result, he was unconscious for three days and nights but fortunately ended up losing only a finger, according to SCMP.