{
  "id": 12246356,
  "title": "Sabine Schoppe who built a refuge for Palawan’s forest turtles has died",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/sabine-schoppe-who-built-a-refuge-for-palawans-forest-turtles-has-died",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-05T22:14:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mongabay",
    "slug": "mongabay",
    "url": "https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/sabine-schoppe-who-built-a-refuge-for-palawans-forest-turtles-has-died/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On June 17, 2015, Philippine authorities discovered and confiscated a large number of endangered Palawan forest turtles in a warehouse on Palawan Island. Over 3,800 of these turtles, which were destined for export, were packed in cement tanks, some with visible health issues such as ulcers and injuries from overcrowding. In response to this crisis, Sabine Schoppe mobilized a team of students and veterinarians to provide emergency care and shelter for the turtles. They transformed a former crocodile enclosure into an urgent pond to accommodate the animals. Schoppe, who had moved to the Philippines from Germany in 1995 after completing her doctorate in biology, had been working on various environmental projects in the region before taking on this urgent task at Western Philippines University. Known locally as the bakoko, the Palawan forest turtle was initially discovered on the island of Leyte, but its scientific description was lost during World War II due to bombings in Manila. Schoppe's efforts helped save numerous turtles and brought attention to the urgent need for conservation in the area.",
  "summary": "On June 17, 2015, Philippine officials confiscated thousands of turtles in cement tanks from a warehouse in Palawan, an island province in the Philippines. More than 3,800 of them were endangered Palawan forest turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis), piled as many as a dozen deep, awaiting export. Some had ulcers on the undersides of their shells or […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}