Juliane Koepcke | |
---|---|
Born | Lima, Peru | 10 October 1954
Occupation | Mammalogist |
Spouse |
Erich Diller
(m. 1989) |
Relatives | Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke (father) Maria Koepcke (mother) |
Juliane Margaret Beate Koepcke /Joo-lia-nay, KOP-kay/ (born 10 October 1954), also known by her married name Juliane Diller, is a German-Peruvian mammalogist who specialises in bats. The daughter of German zoologists Maria and Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke, she became famous at the age of 17 as the sole survivor of the 1971 LANSA Flight 508 plane crash; after falling 3,000 m (10,000 ft) while strapped to her seat and suffering numerous injuries, she survived 11 days alone in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest until she was rescued by local lumberjacks after finding their camp.