State environment and forest minister Rockybul Hussian said chief minister Tarun Gogoi has agreed to the idea of opening a police station to deal with wildlife crime. He added that the first police station to tackle crime related to wildlife would be set up at Kohra near Kaziranga National Park. He added that two more such police stations would also be set up at Manas National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

"The normal police stations are already burdened with work related to various criminal cases. Dealing with wildlife-related crime is an additional burden for these police stations. So, we have decided to have separate police stations to handle wildlife crime. This will help tackle the menace in a more focused manner," Hussain said during a visit to the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre (VCBC) at Rani in Kamrup district on Thursday.

The minister added that officers manning these police stations would be trained in different aspects of wildlife crime.

"The state forest department will impart training in wildlife species and various crimes related to these species to police officers," he added.

The government's decision to set up police stations to exclusively deal with such crimes comes at a time when rhino poaching at Kaziranga National Park has become a matter of serious concern. At least 13 rhinos have been poached so far in Kaziranga alone this year. And, with the arrival of monsoon, when the park gets flooded, the rhinos become all the more vulnerable to poaching. Manas National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary are also rhino habitats.

With regard to vulture conservation, Hussain said Jorhat, Sivsagar, Nagaon, Dhemaji, Karbi Anglong, Golaghat, Dibrugarh and Sonitpur districts have been identified as 'vulture safe' zones for future release of vultures raised at the breeding centre.

This year, three vulture chicks were born at the centre, while two were born last year.

"Our target is to raise the vulture population at the centre to 200 within 15 years since the centre was set up in 2007. It now has 61 vultures belonging to the slender-billed and white-backed species," Hussain said.

Slender-billed vulture population in India is estimated to be around 1,000. Use of diclofenac drug in livestock has been identified as the major cause for the decline in vulture population across the country.

The VCBC was set up at Rani by the state forest department and the Bombay Natural History Society following a sharp drop in the vulture population in Assam.