The statistics are grim. The Kashmir hangul, the only surviving subspecies of the red deer family, is slowly becoming extinct. In fact, as per the latest census report released in March, its population has come down from 228 to 160 in the last four years. This, when in the late 1940s, some 5,000 hangul, also known as Kashmir stag, roamed the Himalayan region. But succour is in sight. The Central Zoo Authority has come to its rescue and will start a captive breeding programme for this endangered species by the end of the year in the foothills of the Himalayas.