Sixteen endangered Saiga antelopes and an undetermined number of gazelles have reportedly been found dead in Mongolia due to food shortages as the temperature slips to minus 40 degrees Celsius.

Experts from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mongolia have been taking bio-technical measures and placing some hay in areas near wildlife habitats to help them survive.

The experts’ team has used up half the 400 bundles of hay and 40 sacks of animal feed provided by the WWF. The team also plans to set up surveillance cameras near the areas where hay and feed were placed to monitor their consumption.

An evident growth has been observed in the population of Saiga antelopes in the past 10 years. In 2014, their population reached 14,000 and their habitat expanded by 13 percent.

However, an alarming number of Saiga antelopes died in a cattle plague, which occurred at the end of 2016. According to a wildlife census in March 2017, only around 5,000 Saiga antelopes were left alive in Mongolia.

Currently, Mongolia is experiencing a ‘zud’, when harsh winter conditions make it difficult for livestock and, also, wild animals to survive.