Forest officials arrange food for animals in Kashmir's national park following snowfall

With thick blanket of snow covering Kashmir, officials in Srinagar's Dachigam national park are busy arranging food material for birds and animals, deprived of natural vegetation due to snow.

Kashmir has been receiving heavy snowfall for the last four days, disrupting normal life.

According to wildlife officials, animals especially the endangered Hangul deer wander outside their safe havens in search of food. The officials have placed huge chunks of dry willow salt in various parts of the national park to feed the endangered species of animals.

"So our responsibility increases that these wild animals in search of food and natural habitat do not go out of forest and we try to supply with alternative food for these animals so that they do not face any problems," said wildlife official, Nazir Ahmed.

According to 2009 census, the population of the Hangul, also known as the Kashmiri stag, was estimated to be between 201 and 234, against 117-180 in March 2008.

The preventive steps come in the wake of state meteorological department warning of an avalanche in the higher reaches of the Valley.

Snowfall in states like Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh has a direct impact in other states like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.