22-07-2015 07:00

More than 4,000 Philippine forest turtles were found in a warehouse in the Philippines. They were stuffed inside boxes when an animal conservation group saved them.

They were kept in very poor conditions – at least 90 turtles were dead and a thousand had to be helped at a nature park. The turtles were awaiting a shipment abroad, probably to China for the pet trade, the food trade, and traditional Chinese medicine.

The turtles can sell for at least £200 on the underground market in China. Some illegal traders are able to sell them to western countries for as much as £1,500.

Difficult words: warehouse (a building where you keep many things), animal conservation group (a group of people who help animals), shipment (the action of shipping something – transporting things).

You can read the original story and watch the video in the Level 3 section.