Volunteers in Nepal are feeding thousands of animals that would have been left to starve after coronavirus stay at home orders cut off their usual source of food

• Thousands of animals at a Hindu temple in Nepal are being fed by volunteers, according to the Associated Press.
• The animals, which consist of cows, monkeys, and pigeons are normally fed by devotees who visit the temple.
• Nepal has been under lockdown since March 24.
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Hundreds of cows, monkeys, and pigeons could have been left to starve at one of Nepal's most revered Hindu temples, but volunteers signed up to keep the animals fed as usual visitors are ordered to shelter at home as a measure to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the Associated Press reported.

Thousands of devotees that visit the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu and normally feed the animals, according to the AP.

Now a small number of guards and volunteers feed the animals so they won't perish in the midst of the pandemic.

The country so far has 14 confirmed coronavirus cases and went into lockdown on March 24.

Source: AP

Cows get fed grain that's been made into a dough.

Source: AP

Pigeons have dry corn spread out for them on the banks of the river.

Source: AP

One volunteer told the AP that the monkeys have not attacked any of them.

Source: AP

Volunteers directly feed the monkeys while wearing gloves and masks.

Source: AP

Monkeys are also thought to be descendants of the Hindu god Hanuman and tend to roam freely around the forested area near the shrine.

Source: AP

Devotees normally feed cows that typically line up the path that leads to the temple and along the bank of the Bagmati River. The cows are considered sacred by Hindus.

Source: AP

Twice a day, around six guards and a few volunteers feed the animals.

"We are trying to make sure that these animals are not starving and they are taken care of," Pradeep Dhakal, an official of the Pashupatinath Development Trust, which controls the temple and surrounding areas, told the AP.