On July 31, 2018, CBCGDF received a decision from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration which decided to revoke “Reply on the Inspection of the Containment of the Pangolin on August 17, 2017” by the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on April 28, 2018. And to order the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to reply again to an information disclosure application submitted by CBCGDF on April 12, 2018. (See details: http://www.cbcgdf.org/English/NewsShow/5008/5789.html)
On august 6, 2018, the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region held a press conference. Liao Hekang, the director of the Guangxi Terrestrial Wildlife Rescue and Epidemic Disease Detection Center explained the relevant issues. But for the rescued pangolins, is the Guangxi Terrestrial Wildlife Rescue and Epidemic Disease Detection Center designed to protect them, or do they think the pangolins are profitable? All the rescued pangolins are sent to the Guangxi Terrestrial Wildlife Rescue and Epidemic Disease Detection Center, which is under the administration of the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. CBCGDF hopes that they have an explanation for the public.
According to the information published on the official website of the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Terrestrial Wildlife Rescue and Epidemic Disease Detection Center has repeated applied for administrative licenses for the issuance of documents for transporting terrestrial wild animals or related products. Liao Hekang has served as director of this center for many years. It is hoped that he should give the public a response.
The public notice on the official website of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region shows that in 2015, issued administrative licenses in a total of 8 transport documents involving 53 live pangolins. In 2016, issued administrative licenses in a total of 7 transport documents involving 66 live pangolins. The data before 2015 is not displayed online. After the implementation of the revised Wildlife Protection Law on January 1, 2017, the approval of the transportation and carrying of national level protected wild animals and their products was cancelled.
(Source: Internet)
The Guangxi Terrestrial Wildlife Rescue and Epidemic Disease Detection Center is the secondary institution of the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The official website of the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region mainly handles the administrative license of the pangolin transport documents for the following institutions:
A pangolin domestication and breeding center in Jiangxi Province. (Founded on August 10, 2010, the type is individual industrial and commercial households, business scope: experimentally cultured pangolin. (Projects subject to approval according to law, can be carried out after approval by relevant departments)***)
Information about this pangolin domestication and breeding center in Jiangxi Province shown on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (Source: Internet)
A domestication base in Beihai City, Guangxi, has media reports that it is a base of an investment company in Guangxi. On April 13, 2015, the Investment Co., Ltd. obtained an administrative license for domestication and reproduction of pangolins. However, on January 19th, they handled the issuance of 8 live pangolin transport documents to this domestication base in Beihai City.
Information about this investment company (Source: Internet)
A steel business company in Foshan City, Guangdong Province. (Business scope: metal materials, hardware, electrical appliances, decorative materials, sales)
Information about this steel company (Source: Internet)
Hereby CBCGDF apply to the Guangxi Terrestrial Wildlife Rescue and Epidemic Disease Detection Center to disclose information on the transportation of live pangolins in the past years, except for the administrative license that have been actively disclosed between 2015 and 2016.
At the same time, the Guangxi Terrestrial Wildlife Rescue and Epidemic Disease Detection Center once issued licenses for transporting pangolins for a steel company in Foshan City, Guangdong Province for five times. What is the reason? After all, steel and pangolins are things that are irrelevant. Also, please let the public know what happened during the process.
CBCGDF expects Mr. Liao to respond to these questions. If there are difficulties in replying, it is also necessary to ask the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Guangxi Provincial Supervision Commission to find out.