The Bureau noted that a member of the Centre joined the Deputy Inspector General for Wildlife for India, during 24-25 January 1997, on a mission to Kaziranga National Park, in the State of Assam, India. The Bureau learnt with satisfaction Kaziranga's success in conserving the great one-horned rhinoceros, whose population within the Park has grown from 366 in 1966 to about 1,200 at present. However, every year about 26 rhinos are poached and an additional 52 die due to natural causes, most of them drowning in the annual floods of the Brahmaputra River.
The Bureau encouraged the management of Kaziranga to proceed with their plans to add six adjacent patches totalling more than 400 sq.km. to the Park, increase the number of anti-poaching camps along the periphery of the Park, build upland refuges for animals to retreat during the annual flooding of the Brahmaputra River and launch conservation awareness and environmental education programmes for local villagers. Furthermore, the Bureau noted that the Indian authorities have submitted a request for financial assistance to support the implementation of parts of the above-mentioned activities and that the Bureau will consider the request under Agenda Item 6 (Requests for international assistance).