The much-touted Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has run into rough weather with the Finance Ministry's decision to approve only 50 posts against 180 for the cell as demanded by the Environment Ministry.

The Finance Ministry has sanctioned only 50 posts citing shortage of funds, official sources said.

And the majority of the posts that have not been approved include those of the field staff, which has not gone down well with the Environment Ministry, the sources said.

The Environment Ministry is of the view that inadequate field staff would defeat the purpose of setting up the bureau and decided to stick to its demand for 180 posts.

The formation of the bureau was announced last year on the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

As per Act, the present Wildlife Preservation Department was to be converted into WLCCB.

"Presently, we have a skeletal staff of 50 across the country. We are neither equipped nor competent at the enforcement level," a WPD official said.

He said adequate field staff was required to track criminals, manage databases, carry out thorough investigation and break the network of poachers.

The official pointed out that a long border and massive smuggling to China, Tibet, Nepal and Myanmar were posing grave threat to the wildlife in the country.

"We are pinning great hopes on the bureau to handle wildlife crisis in a better way. Globally, illegal animal trade is second to drug trafficking," he said.

With headquarters in New Delhi, the proposed bureau would have regional centres in Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Jabalpur apart from the present four offices of the WPD.

"These new branches would keep a tab on smuggling being carried out through Almora, Nepal, Pakistan, Northeast and Central borders," the official said.

The Additional Director General of Wildlife would be the deputy chairman of the bureau and it would have representatives from the customs, police and forest departments.