Dongguan forestry bureau ordered to reveal number of pangolins in local institute

Dongguan No 1 People’s Court has ordered the city bureau of forestry to reveal the address of a local institute of medicinal animals and the exact number of pangolins it has, thepaper.cn reported on Friday. 

Last June, Li Enze, executive director of the Environmental Public Welfare Law Center of Beijing Impact Law Firm, took the bureau to court after it refused to reveal the address of Qingfengyuan Institute of Medicinal Animals and the number of pangolins it is raising, according to thepaper.cn.  

In March, Li asked the bureau to reveal the information. But in April the bureau replied saying it was not prepared to disclose such information as it might lead to the institute being robbed, thepaper.cn said. 

The court said in its verdict such data did not involve a State secret, commercial secret or infringement of privacy and the defendant had no reason to refuse to disclose the data. 

Li said the defendant had violated laws and regulations that require government departments to make their operations transparent when it refused to disclose the information. 

“The defendant’s ecological and environmental protection work, including the protection of wildlife, should be transparent, open, abide by law and be supervised by society,” Li told local media on Thursday. 

Wild pangolins are under State protection in the mainland.