• Lakes and ponds, a lifeline for the deer, wild boar, jackals and peacocks, all dried up this summer.
• A herd of endangered deer wait under the shade of one of the sparse trees in this parched central Myanmar landscape, watching as rangers dispatch drinking water, a life-saving resource funded by wellwishers.

BACKGROUND:

• Shwe Settaw nature reserve in Magway Division is home to the endemic species of Eld’s or golden deer.
• But their habitat lies in the country’s central dry zone, a low-lying plain astride the Irrawaddy River where water shortages are rife in the hot season.
• This year temperatures have soared to a record 47 degrees centigrade.
• The sanctuary’s 20-odd lakes and ponds, a lifeline for the deer, wild boar, jackals, peacocks and other creatures have all dried up.
• In one lake bed, a water depth-measuring rod stands marooned in the middle of a mosaic of cracked earth.