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9604_58 | e.The immense scope of The Century caused headaches for those developing it. It survived three major changes in narrative approach, three different executive producers, and various attempts to axe the entire project. By the time it aired, all of the people interviewed for their anecdotes of World War I had died. Jennings, though, downplayed criticism of the program's rocky history. "Name me a news organization that doesn't have some degree of turmoil on a major project," he said. "What people care about in The New York Times is what gets in the paper. It's the same with us. There are people out there who think their job is to set the bar for us, but the bar for me is set by the audience, and I think there is a real hunger out there from everyone I encounter to relive and experience and learn from what's gone on over the last 100 years."
References
Further reading
Books |
9604_59 | Fensch, Thomas, editor. Television News Anchors: An Anthology of Profiles of the Major Figures and Issues in United States Network Reporting. Jefferson, North Carolina: MacFarland (1993). .
Goldberg, Robert, and Gerald Jay Goldberg. Anchors: Brokaw, Jennings, Rather, and the Evening News. Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol (1990). .
Goldenson, Leonard. Beating the Odds: The Untold Story Behind the Rise of ABC. New York: Scribners (1991). .
Gunther, Marc. The House that Roone Built: the Inside Story of ABC News. Boston: Little, Brown (1994). .
Matusow, Barbara. The Evening Stars: the Making of the Network News Anchor. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1983). .
Online |
9604_60 | Larry King Live Transcript: Peter Jennings Discusses 'The Search for Jesus' . CNN. June 15, 2000.
Larry King Live Transcript: Peter Jennings Discusses 'Family Business' . CNN. September 14, 2000.
Larry King Live Transcript: Peter Jennings Offers His Insights on Current Events . CNN. January 27, 2001.
Larry King Live Transcript: Interview With Peter Jennings . CNN. April 10, 2002.
Larry King Live Transcript: Interview With Peter Jennings . CNN. September 13, 2002.
Larry King Live Transcript: Interview With Peter Jennings . CNN. September 8, 2003.
Larry King Live Transcript: Interview With Peter Jennings . CNN. April 1, 2004.
Larry King Live Transcript: Peter Jennings Remembered; Panel Discusses Lung Cancer . CNN. August 9, 2005.
Robertson, Lori (November 2001). Anchoring the Nation. American Journalism Review.
Speech by Peter Jennings given on April 9, 1969. Audio recording from The University of Alabama's Emphasis Symposium on Contemporary Issues.
External links |
9604_61 | ABC News: Peter Jennings
The Documentary Group, successor to PJ Productions, the production company of Peter Jennings
The Peter Jennings Project for Journalism and the Constitution at the National Constitution Center
Booknotes interview with Jennings on The Century, December 27, 1998. |
9604_62 | 20th-century Canadian journalists
21st-century Canadian journalists
20th-century American journalists
American male journalists
21st-century American journalists
Canadian television news anchors
Canadian television reporters and correspondents
Canadian expatriate journalists in the United States
American television news anchors
American television reporters and correspondents
ABC News personalities
Emmy Award winners
Peabody Award winners
Members of the Order of Canada
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Deaths from lung cancer
Writers from Ottawa
Writers from Toronto
20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers
20th-century Canadian male writers
Naturalized citizens of the United States
CTV Television Network people
Lisgar Collegiate Institute
1938 births
2005 deaths |
9605_0 | Chronic wasting disease (CWD), sometimes called zombie deer disease, is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) affecting deer. TSEs are a family of diseases thought to be caused by misfolded proteins called prions and include similar diseases such as BSE (mad cow disease) in cattle, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans and scrapie in sheep. In the US, CWD affects mule deer, white-tailed deer, red deer, sika deer, elk, caribou, and moose. Natural infection causing CWD affects members of the deer family. Experimental transmission of CWD to other species such as squirrel monkeys, and genetically modified mice has been shown. |
9605_1 | In 1967, CWD was first identified in mule deer at a government research facility in northern Colorado, United States. It was initially recognized as a clinical "wasting" syndrome and then in 1978, it was identified more specifically as a TSE disease. Since then, CWD has been found in free-ranging and captive animal populations in 26 US states and three Canadian provinces. In addition, CWD has been found in one Minnesota red deer farm, one wild reindeer herd in Norway (March 2016) as well as in wild moose. Single cases of CWD in moose have been found in Finland (March 2018) and in Sweden (March and May 2019, September 2020). CWD was found in South Korea in some deer imported from Canada. CWD is typified by chronic weight loss and clinical signs compatible with brain lesions, aggravated over time, always leading to death. No relationship is known between CWD and any other TSEs of animals or people. |
9605_2 | Although reports in the popular press have been made of humans being affected by CWD, by 2004 a study for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested, "[m]ore epidemiologic and laboratory studies are needed to monitor the possibility of such transmissions".
The epidemiological study further concluded, "[a]s a precaution, hunters should avoid eating deer and elk tissues known to harbor the CWD agent (e.g., brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes) from areas where CWD has been identified".
History
Chronic wasting disease was first discovered by American wildlife veterinarian Beth S. Williams. Williams performed necropsies on deer and elk that had died of an unknown syndrome. She recognized that the brain lesions in these animals were consistent with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). In 1978, she and neuropathologist Stuart Young cowrote the first scientific paper that named the disease and described it as a TSE. |
9605_3 | In February 2003, the Centers for Disease Control published a report of "Fatal degenerative neurologic illnesses in men who participated in wild game feasts--Wisconsin, 2002". It read in conclusion that "Although no association between (animal) CWD and (the feastors in Wisconsin who happened to have) CJD was found, continued surveillance of both diseases remains important to assess the possible risk for CWD transmission to humans." In September 2003, Hoey pointed out that one of the three patients (the 55 year-old) "presented with a 3-month history of difficulty in writing and unsteadiness of gait, followed by dementia, speech abnormalities and myoclonic jerking. Pathologic examination of the brain at autopsy 3 months later revealed widespread subcortical spongiform lesions consistent with CJD." |
9605_4 | As of 2013 Patrice Klein the CWD Program Manager at USDA/APHIS rejected the somewhat inconclusive findings of Hoey and stated that no evidence had been found of transmission to humans from deer, nor by eating animals in the deer family, but both channels remain a subject of public health surveillance and research.
Quebec farm outbreak
The MFFP ministry in Quebec practiced 9500 tests in the period between 2007 and autumn 2018 before they detected a seropositive case in September 2018. |
9605_5 | The September 2018 discovery of CWD on a managed operation in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge Quebec prompted a wholesale slaughter of 3500 animals in two months before the enterprise shut down permanently. The CFIA ordered the cull, as well as the decontamination of 10 inches of soil in certain places on the 1000-acre operation. Post-discovery, each animal was tested for CWD by the CFIA before it was released onto the market. Other Quebec producers lamented the glut of supply. A 400 km quarantine area was declared, in which all hunting and trapping activities were banned. The government slaughtered hundreds of wild animals over a two-month period. The routine cull for market was between 70 and 100 animals per week. When the producer was forced to close, the weekly slaughter neared 500 animals per week. One year later, 750 wild specimens had been culled in the 45 km-radius "enhanced monitoring area", and none tested positive for CWD. |
9605_6 | It came to light in August 2019 that prior to 2014 in Canada, all animals on CWD-infected farms were buried or incinerated. Since 2014, however, the CFIA has allowed animals from CWD-infected farms to enter the food chain because there is "no national requirement to have animals tested for the disease". From one CWD-infected herd in Alberta, 131 elk were sold for human consumption. |
9605_7 | For the fall 2019 hunting season in western Quebec, the provincial ministry relaxed the rules for the annual white-tailed deer (WTD) hunt, in an effort to curb the spread of CWD. Any WTD can be hunted with any weapon in certain municipalities in the Outaouais valley and the Laurentides. The MFFP hopes thereby to receive more samples to test for CWD. The quarantine around Grenville was still in place, and the ministry specifically prohibited (only) the "removal" from the quarantine "enhanced monitoring area" zone of "the head, more specifically any part of the brain, the eyes, the retropharyngeal lymph nodes and the tonsils, any part of the spinal column, the internal organs (including the liver and the heart), and the testicles." |
9605_8 | Signs and symptoms
Due to CWD taking 18–24 months after initial exposure to onset, most cases of CWD occur in adult animals; the youngest animal to exhibit clinical symptoms of the disease was 15 months. The disease is progressive and always fatal. The first signs are difficulties in movement. The most obvious and consistent clinical sign of CWD is weight loss over time. Behavioral changes also occur in the majority of cases, including decreased interactions with other animals, listlessness, lowering of the head, tremors, repetitive walking in set patterns, and nervousness. Excessive salivation and grinding of the teeth also are observed. Most deer show increased drinking and urination; the increased drinking and salivation may contribute to the spread of the disease. Loss of fear of humans and appearance of confusion are also common. The APHIS summarized it as: |
9605_9 | Cause
The cause of CWD (like other TSEs, such as scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a prion, a misfolded form of a normal protein, known as prion protein (PrP), that is most commonly found in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). The misfolded form has been shown to be capable of converting normally folded prion protein, PrPC ("C" for cellular) into an abnormal form, PrPSc ("Sc" for scrapie), thus leading to a chain reaction. CWD is thought to be transmitted by this mechanism. The abnormality in PrP has its genetic basis in a particular variant of the protein-coding gene PRNP that is highly conserved among mammals and has been found and sequenced in deer. The build-up of PrPd in the brain is associated with widespread neurodegeneration. |
9605_10 | Genetics
The allele which encodes leucine, codon 132 in the family of Elks, is either homozygous LL, homozygous MM, or heterozygous ML. Individuals with the first encoding seem to resist clinical signs of CWD, whereas individuals with either of the other two encodings have much shorter incubation periods.
In white-tailed deer, polymorphisms at codons 95 (Q->H) and 96 (G->S) dramatically affect CWD progression and prion strain specification. Deer containing the 96S allele have delayed progression to clinical disease onset.
When deer with the 95H polymorphism become infected, they select for altered strains of CWD. |
9605_11 | Spread
Researchers in July 2019 stated that "with all the research on the malignity of prions, and the permanence of prions in the wider environment, and their resistance to destruction and degradation, it is necessary to reduce the potential sources of exposure to CWD." In fact an APHIS scientist observed that, while the longevity of CWD prion is unknown, the scrapie prion has been measured to endure for 16 years. The PrPCWD protein is insoluble in all but the strongest solvents, and highly resistant to digestion by proteases. PrPCWD converts the normal protein PrPC into more of itself upon contact, and binds together forming aggregates. Prusiner noted in 2001 that
but it is noted that as of 2013, although CWD prions were transmissible within the cervidae family, CWD was not transmissible to humans or to cattle. |
9605_12 | How the prions that cause CWD spread is unknown, but recent research indicates that prions can be excreted by deer and elk, and are transmitted by eating grass growing in contaminated soil. Animals born in captivity and those born in the wild have been affected with the disease. Transmission of CWD is thought to be lateral (from animal to animal). Maternal transmission may occur, although it appears to be relatively unimportant in maintaining epidemics. An infected deer's saliva is able to spread the CWD prions. Exposure between animals is associated with sharing food and water sources contaminated with CWD prions shed by diseased deer.
Direct
CWD may be directly transmitted by contact with infected animals, their bodily tissues, and their bodily fluids. Spread may result from contact with infected deer regardless of if they are symptomatic. |
9605_13 | Recent research on Rocky Mountain elk found that with CWD-infected cows, many subclinical, a high rate (80%) of maternal-to-offspring transmission of CWD prions occurred, regardless of gestational period. While not dispositive relative to disease development in the fetus, this does suggest that maternal transmission may be yet another important route of direct CWD transmission.
Modern news stories and anecdotal evidence from treating physicians suggest that a human may have contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease via the consumption of squirrel brains infected with CWD.
Experimental transmission |
9605_14 | In addition to the cervid species in which CWD is known to naturally occur, black-tailed deer and European red deer have been demonstrated to be naturally susceptible to CWD. Other cervid species, including caribou, are also suspected to be naturally vulnerable to this disease. Many other noncervid mammalian species have been experimentally infected with CWD, either orally or by intracerebral inoculation. These species include monkeys, sheep, cattle, prairie voles, mice, and ferrets.
An experimental case study of oral transmission of CWD to reindeer shows certain reindeer breeds may be susceptible to CWD, while other subpopulations may be protective against CWD in free-ranging populations. None of the reindeer in the study showed symptoms of CWD, potentially signifying resistance to different CWD strains.
Indirect |
9605_15 | Environmental transmission has been linked to contact with infected bodily fluids and tissues, as well as contact with contaminated environments. Once in the environment, CWD prions may remain infectious for many years. Thus, decomposition of diseased carcasses, infected "gut piles" from hunters who field dress their cervid harvests, and the urine, saliva, feces, and antler velvet of infected individuals that are deposited in the environment, all have the potential to create infectious environmental reservoirs of CWD.
In 2013, researchers at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado successfully inoculated white-tailed deer with the misfolded prion via the nasal passage, when the prions were mixed with clay. This was important because the prions had already been shown by 2006 to bind with sandy quartz clay minerals. |
9605_16 | One avian scavenger, the American crow, was recently evaluated as a potential vector for CWD. As CWD prions remain viable after passing through the bird's digestive tract, crows represent a possible mechanism for the creation of environmental reservoirs of CWD. Additionally, the crows' extensive geographic range presents ample opportunities for them to come in contact with CWD. This, coupled with the population density and longevity of communal roosting sites in both urban and rural locations, suggests that the fecal deposits at roosting sites may represent a CWD environmental reservoir. Conservative estimates for crows' fecal deposits at one winter roosting site for one winter season ranged from 391,552 to 599,032 kg.
CWD prions adhere so tightly to soil surface particles that the ground becomes a source of infection and may be a major route of transmission due to frequent ground contact when animals in the deer family graze.
Prevention |
9605_17 | By 2012, a voluntary system of control was published by APHIS in the US Federal Register. It depended on voluntary minimum standards methodology, and herd certification programs to avoid interstate movement of the disease vector. It was based on a risk management framework. As of August 2019, APHIS law in 9 CFR Part 55 - CONTROL OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE dealt with this problem.
Introduced for the 2019 Minnesota hunting season, a no-cost deer carcass-incineration program was rolled out by Crow Wing County officials hoping to stem the spread of CWD in the region. CWD was found among wild deer in Crow Wing County for the first time in January 2019. The voluntary program encourages both residents and visiting hunters to bring harvested deer carcasses to the county landfill east of Brainerd, Minnesota for incineration and disposal. |
9605_18 | Diagnosis
Diagnosis is based on post mortem examination (necropsy) and testing; examination of the dead body is not definitive, as many animals die early in the course of the disease and conditions found are nonspecific; general signs of poor health and aspiration pneumonia, which may be the actual cause of death, are common. On microscopic examination, lesions of CWD in the CNS resemble those of other TSEs. In addition, scientists use immunohistochemistry to test brain, lymph, and neuroendocrine tissues for the presence of the abnormal prion protein to diagnose CWD; positive IHC findings in the obex is considered the gold standard. Conventional CWD diagnostic strategies and seeded amplification methods for amplifying CWD prions in vitro include: immunohistochemistry (IHC), western blotting (WB), enzyme immunoassay (EIA), protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA), and real time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC). |
9605_19 | Available tests, as of July 2019, at the CFIA were not sensitive enough to detect the prion in specimens from animals younger than a year old. Strategies are being developed to allow for the quantification of prion burden in a tissue, body fluid, or environmental sample.
As of 2015, no commercially feasible diagnostic tests could be used on live animals. As early as 2001 an antemortem test was deemed urgent. Running a bioassay, taking fluids from animals in the deer family suspected of infection and incubating them in transgenic mice that express the cervid prion protein, can be used to determine whether the cervid is infected, but ethical issues exist with this, and it is not scalable. |
9605_20 | A tonsillar biopsy technique has been a reliable method of testing for CWD in live deer, but it only seems to be effective on mule deer and white-tailed deer, not elk. Biopsies of the rectal mucosa have also been effective at detecting CWD in live mule deer, white-tailed deer, and elk, though detection efficacy may be influenced by numerous factors including animal age, genotype, and disease stage.
It is possible for CWD prions to survive sterilization procedures involving an autoclave.
Epidemiology
North America
The disease was first identified in 1967 in a closed herd of captive mule deer in contiguous portions of northeastern Colorado. In 1980, the disease was determined to be a TSE. It was first identified in wild elk and mule deer and white-tailed deer in the early 1980s in Colorado and Wyoming, and in farmed elk in 1997. The disease did not affect Canada until 1996. |
9605_21 | In May 2001, CWD was also found in free-ranging deer in the southwestern corner of Nebraska (adjacent to Colorado and Wyoming) and later in additional areas in western Nebraska. The limited area of northern Colorado, southern Wyoming, and western Nebraska in which free-ranging deer, moose, and/or elk positive for CWD have been found is referred to as the endemic area. The area in 2006 has expanded to six states, including parts of eastern Utah, southwestern South Dakota, and northwestern Kansas. Also, areas not contiguous (to the endemic area) areas in central Utah and central Nebraska have been found. The limits of the affected areas are not well defined, since the disease is at a low incidence and the amount of sampling may not be adequate to detect it. In 2002, CWD was detected in wild deer in south-central Wisconsin and northern Illinois and in an isolated area of southern New Mexico. In 2005, it was found in wild white-tailed deer in New York and in Hampshire County, West |
9605_22 | Virginia. In 2008, the first confirmed case of CWD in Michigan was discovered in an infected deer on an enclosed deer-breeding facility. It is also found in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. |
9605_23 | In February 2011, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported the first confirmed case of the disease in that state. The affected animal was a white-tailed deer killed by a hunter. |
9605_24 | CWD has also been diagnosed in farmed elk and deer herds in a number of states and in two Canadian provinces. The first positive farmed-elk herd in the United States was detected in 1997 in South Dakota. |
9605_25 | Since then, additional positive elk herds and farmed white-tailed deer herds have been found in South Dakota (7), Nebraska (4), Colorado (10), Oklahoma (1), Kansas (1), Minnesota (3), Montana (1), Wisconsin (6), and New York (2). As of fall of 2006, four positive elk herds in Colorado and a positive white-tailed deer herd in Wisconsin remain under state quarantine. All of the other herds have been depopulated or have been slaughtered and tested, and the quarantine has been lifted from one herd that underwent rigorous surveillance with no further evidence of disease. CWD also has been found in farmed elk in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. A retrospective study also showed mule deer exported from Denver to the Toronto Zoo in the 1980s were affected. In June 2015, the disease was detected in a male white-tailed deer on a breeding ranch in Medina County, Texas. State officials euthanized 34 deer in an effort to contain a possible outbreak. |
9605_26 | In February 2018, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks announced that a Mississippi deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease. Another Mississippi whitetail euthanized in Pontotoc County on 8 October 2018 tested positive for CWD. The disease was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa on 30 October 2018.
Species that have been affected with CWD include elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, and moose. Other ruminant species, including wild ruminants and domestic cattle, sheep, and goats, have been housed in wildlife facilities in direct or indirect contact with CWD-affected deer and elk, with no evidence of disease transmission. However, experimental transmission of CWD into other ruminants by intracranial inoculation does result in disease, suggesting only a weak molecular species barrier exists. Research is ongoing to further explore the possibility of transmission of CWD to other species. |
9605_27 | By April 2016, CWD had been found in captive animals in South Korea; the disease arrived there with live elk that were imported from Canada for farming in the late 1990s.
In the summer of 2018, cases were discovered in the Harpur Farm herd in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Quebec.
Over the course of 2018 fully 12% of the mule deer that were tested in Alberta, had a positive result. More than 8% of Alberta deer were deemed seropositive. |
9605_28 | Europe
In 2016, the first case of CWD in Europe was from the Nordfjella wild reindeer herd in southern Norway. Scientists found the diseased female reindeer as it was dying, and routine CWD screening at necropsy was unexpectedly positive. The origin of CWD in Norway is unknown, whereas import of infected deer from Canada was the source of CWD cases in South Korea. Norway has strict legislation and rules not allowing importation of live animals and deer into the country. Norway has a scrapie surveillance program since 1997; while no reports of scrapie within the range of Nordfjella reindeer population have been identified, sheep are herded through that region and are a potential source of infection.
In May and June 2016, two infected wild moose (Alces alces) were found around 300 km north from the first case, in Selbu. By the end of August, a fourth case had been confirmed in a wild reindeer shot in the same area as the first case in March. |
9605_29 | In 2017, the Environment Agency of the Norwegian government released guidelines for hunters hunting reindeer in the Nordfjella areas. The guidelines contain information on identifying animals with CWD symptoms and instructions for minimizing the risk of contamination, as well as a list of supplies given to hunters to be used for taking and submitting samples from shot reindeer. |
9605_30 | In March 2018, Finnish Food Safety Authority EVIRA stated that the first case of CWD in Finland had been diagnosed in a 15-year-old moose (Alces alces) that had died naturally in the municipality of Kuhmo in the Kainuu region. Before this case in Kuhmo, Norway was the only country in the European Economic Area where CWD has been diagnosed. The moose did not have the transmissible North American form of the disease, but similar to the Norwegian variant of CWD, an atypical or sporadic form which occurs incidentally in individual animals of the deer family. In Finland, CWD screening of fallen wild deer has been done since 2003. None of the roughly 2,500 samples analyzed so far have tested positive for the disease. The export of live animals of the deer family to other countries has been temporarily banned as a precautionary measure to stop the spread of the CWD, and moose hunters are going to be provided with more instructions before the start of the next hunting season, if appropriate. |
9605_31 | The export and sales of meat from deer will not be restricted and moose meat is considered safe to eat as only the brain and nervous tissue of infected moose contains prions. |
9605_32 | In March 2019, the Swedish National Veterinary Institute (SVA) diagnosed the first case of CWD in Sweden. A 16-year old emaciated female moose was found in the municipality of Arjeplog in the county of Norrbotten, circling and with loss of shyness towards humans, possibly blind. The moose was euthanized and the head was sent for CWD screening in the national CWD surveillance program. The brainstem tissue, but not lymph nodes, was positive for CWD (confirmed with Western Blot). A second case of CWD was diagnosed in May 2019, with very similar case history, about 70 km east of the first case. This second case, in the municipality of Arvidsjaur, was also an emaciated and apathic 16-year-old female moose that was euthanized. The circumstances of these Swedish cases are similar to the CWD cases in moose in both Norway and Finland. The EU regulated CWD surveillance runs between 2018 - 2020. A minimum of 6 000 deer are to be tested, both free-ranging animals in the deer family, farmed red |
9605_33 | deer, and semi-domesticated reindeer. The finding of CWD-positive moose initiated an intensified surveillance in the affected municipalities. Adult hunter-harvested moose and slaughtered semi-domesticated reindeer from the area are tested for CWD. In September 2019, a third moose was found positive for CWD, a hunter-harvested 10-year-old apparently healthy female moose from Arjeplog. A fourth case of CWD in moose was verified in September 2020, in a euthanized 14-year-old lame and unshy female moose in the municipality of Robertsfors, in the county of Västerbotten, approximately 200 km from the previous moose cases in the neighboring county of Norrbotten. |
9605_34 | Research
Research is focused on better ways to monitor disease in the wild, live animal diagnostic tests, developing vaccines, better ways to dispose of animals that died from the disease and to decontaminate the environment, where prions can persist in soils, and better ways to monitor the food supply. Deer harvesting and management issues are intertwined.
References
External links |
9605_35 | This entry incorporates public domain text originally at What is chronic wasting disease? Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance
Chronic wasting disease Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) USGS National Wildlife Health Center
CWD information & testing Colorado Parks and Wildlife
[https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/programs/CWD/Pages/default.aspx Chronic wasting diseas Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Chronic wasting disease management Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Chronic wasting disease New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Chronic wasting disease Program Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
Chronic wasting disease Pennsylvania Game Commission
Chronic wasting disease Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |
9605_36 | Chronic wasting disease (CWD) Wyoming Wildlife, Wyoming Game and Fish |
9605_37 | Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
Ruminant diseases
Animal diseases |
9606_0 | The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wash and the North Sea near Kings Lynn. With a course of about , mostly flowing north and east, it is the fifth longest river in the United Kingdom. The Great Ouse has been historically important for commercial navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows; its best-known tributary is the Cam, which runs through Cambridge. Its lower course passes through drained wetlands and fens and has been extensively modified, or channelised, to relieve flooding and provide a better route for barge traffic. The unmodified river would have changed course regularly after floods. |
9606_1 | The name Ouse is from the Celtic or pre-Celtic *Udso-s, and probably means simply "water" or slow flowing river. Thus the name is a pleonasm. The lower reaches of the Great Ouse are also known as "Old West River" and "the Ely Ouse", but all the river is often referred to simply as the Ouse in informal usage (the word "Great" which originally meant simply big or, in the case of a river, long is used to distinguish this river from several others called the Ouse).
Course
The river has several sources close to the villages of Syresham and Wappenham in South Northamptonshire. It flows through Brackley, provides the Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire border, then into Buckinghamshire where it flows through Buckingham, Milton Keynes (at Stony Stratford), Newport Pagnell and Olney, then Kempston in Bedfordshire, which is the current head of navigation. |
9606_2 | Passing through Bedford, it flows on into Cambridgeshire through St Neots, Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Hemingford Grey and St Ives, reaching Earith. Here, the river enters a short tidal section before branching in two. The artificial, very straight Old Bedford River and New Bedford River, which remain tidal, provide a direct link north-east towards the lower river at Denver in Norfolk.
The river previously ran through Hermitage Lock into the Old West River, then joined the Cam near Little Thetford before passing Ely and Littleport to reach the Denver sluice. Below this point, the river is tidal and continues past Downham Market to enter The Wash at King's Lynn. It is navigable from the Wash to Kempston Mill near Bedford, a distance of which contains 17 locks. It has a catchment area of and a mean flow of as measured at Denver Sluice. |
9606_3 | Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in 1236, as a result of flooding. During the 1600s, the Old Bedford and New Bedford Rivers were built to provide a quicker route for the water to reach the sea. In the 20th century, construction of the Cut-Off Channel and the Great Ouse Relief Channel have further altered water flows in the region, and helped to reduce flooding.
Improvements to assist navigation began in 1618, with the construction of sluices and locks. Bedford could be reached by river from 1689. A major feature was the sluice at Denver, which failed in 1713, but was rebuilt by 1750 after the problem of flooding returned. Kings Lynn, at the mouth of the river, developed as a port, with civil engineering input from many of the great engineers of the time. With the coming of the railways the state of the river declined so that it was unsuitable either for navigation or for drainage. The navigation was declared to be derelict in the 1870s. |
9606_4 | A repeated problem was the number of authorities responsible for different aspects of the river. The Drainage Board created in 1918 had no powers to address navigation issues, and there were six bodies responsible for the river below Denver in 1913. When the Great Ouse Catchment Board was created under the powers of the Land Drainage Act in 1930, effective action could at last be taken. There was significant sugar beet cargo traffic on the river between 1925 and 1959, with the last known commercial traffic occurring in 1974. Leisure boating had been popular since 1904, and the post-war period saw the creation of the Great Ouse Restoration Society in 1951, who campaigned for complete renovation of the river navigation. Until 1989, the river was in the care of the Anglian Water Authority until water privatisation, when the Environment Agency became the drainage and ecology authority as well as being the navigation authority. |
9606_5 | The Ouse Washes are an internationally important area for wildlife. Sandwiched between the Old Bedford and New Bedford rivers, they consist of washland which is used as pasture during the summer but which floods in the winter, and are the largest area of such land in the United Kingdom. They act as breeding grounds for lapwings, redshanks and snipe in spring, and are home to varieties of ducks and swans during the winter months.
History: drainage and navigation |
9606_6 | The river has been important both for drainage and for navigation for centuries, and these dual roles have not always been complementary. The course of the river has changed significantly. In prehistory, it flowed from Huntingdon straight to Wisbech and then into the sea. In several sequences, the lower reaches of the river silted, and in times of inland flood, the waters would breach neighbouring watersheds and new courses would develop – generally in a progressively eastwards fashion. In the Dark Ages, it turned to the west at Littleport, between its present junctions with the River Little Ouse and the River Lark, and made its way via Welney, Upwell and Outwell, to flow into The Wash near Wisbech. At that time it was known as the Wellstream or Old Wellenhee, and parts of that course are marked by the Old Croft River and the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. After major inland flood events in the early 13th century it breached another watershed near Denver and took over the |
9606_7 | channel of the old Wiggenhall Eau, and so achieved a new exit and so joined the Wash at Kings Lynn. Parts of the old course were later used for the River Lark, which flows in the reverse direction along the section below Prickwillow, after the main river was moved further to the west. The original northern course began to silt up, depriving Wisbech of a reliable outlet to the sea, and was kept navigable by diverting the River Nene east to flow into it in the 1470s. |
9606_8 | An Act of Parliament was passed in 1600 which allowed Adventurers, who paid for drainage schemes with their own money, to be repaid in land which they had drained. The Act covered large tracts of England, but no improvements were made to the region through which the Great Ouse flowed until 1618, Arnold Spencer and Thomas Girton started to improve the river between St Ives and St Neots. Six sluices were constructed, and Spencer attempted to obtain permission to improve the river to Bedford, but the Act was defeated, despite support from Bedford Corporation. Some dredging was done, and Great Barford became an inland port, but he lost a lot of money on the scheme, and the condition of the river worsened. |
9606_9 | Below Earith, thirteen Adventurers working with the Earl of Bedford formed a Corporation to drain the Bedford Levels. Cornelius Vermuyden was the engineer, and a major part of the scheme was the Old Bedford River, a straight cut to carry water from Earith to a new sluice near Salters Lode, which was completed in 1637. The sluice was not popular with those who used the river for navigation, and there were some attempts to destroy the new works during the turmoil of the civil war. A second drainage Act was obtained in 1649, and Vermuyden oversaw the construction of the New Bedford River, parallel to the Old Bedford River, which was completed in 1652. There was strong opposition from the ports and towns on the river, which increased as the old channel via Ely gradually silted up. Above Earith, Samuel Jemmatt took control of the river, and navigation was extended to Bedford in 1689 by the construction of new staunches and sluices. |
9606_10 | Between St Ives and Bedford, there were ten sluices, which were pound locks constructed at locations where mill weirs would have prevented navigation. There were also five staunches, which were flash locks constructed near to fords and shallows. Operation of the beam and paddle provided an extra volume of water to carry the boats over such obstructions. On the lower river, a combination of high spring tides and large volumes of floodwater resulted in the complete failure of Denver sluice in 1713. While there were celebrations among the navigators, the problem of flooding returned, and the channel below Denver deteriorated. Charles Labelye therefore designed a new sluice for the Bedford Level Corporation, which was constructed between 1748 and 1750 and included a navigation lock. No tolls were charged on the river below St Ives or on the New Bedford, and those responsible for drainage complained about damage to the sluices and to banks by the horses used for towing boats. An Act of |
9606_11 | Parliament to regulate the situation was defeated in 1777 after fierce opposition, and it was not until 1789 that a Haling Act was passed, which ensured that tolls were charged and landowners were repaid for damage to the banks caused by horses. These measures were a success, as there were few complaints once the new system was in place. |
9606_12 | Port of King's Lynn |
9606_13 | After the river had been diverted to King's Lynn, the town developed as a port. Evidence for this can still be seen, as two warehouses built in the 15th century for trade with the Hanseatic League have survived. However, the harbour and the river below Denver sluice were affected by silting, and the problem was perceived to be the effects of the sluice. Sand from The Wash was deposited by the incoming tide, and the outgoing tide did not carry it away again. Colonel John Armstrong was asked to survey the river in 1724, and suggested returning it to how it was prior to the construction of the drainage works. John Smeaton rejected this idea in 1766, suggesting that the banks should be moved inwards to create a narrower, faster-flowing channel. William Elstobb and others had suggested that the great bend in the river above King's Lynn should be removed by creating a cut, but it took 50 years of arguing before the Eau Brink Act was obtained in 1795 to authorise it, and another 26 years |
9606_14 | until the cut was finally opened in 1821. During this time, most of the major civil engineers of the time had contributed their opinions. The original project head and chief engineer was Sir Thomas Hyde Page. |
9606_15 | The work was overseen by John Rennie and Thomas Telford and construction took four years. It proved to be too narrow, resulting in further silting of the harbour, and was widened at an additional cost of £33,000 on Telford's advice. The total cost for the cut was nearly £500,000, and although the navigators, who had opposed the scheme, benefitted most from it, there were new problems for drainage, with the surrounding land levels dropping as the peaty soil dried out. The Eau Brink Act created Drainage Commissioners and Navigation Commissioners, who had powers over the river to St Ives, but both bodies were subject to the Bedford Levels Corporation. Although often in opposition, the two parties worked together on the construction of a new lock and staunch at Brownshill, to improve navigation above Earith. |
9606_16 | In 1835, King William IV brought a case against the Ouse Bank Commissioners regarding a mandamus writ issued in 1834 about the Eau Brink Cut and possible damages it caused to the King's Lynn harbour. |
9606_17 | The Railway Age |
9606_18 | Denver sluice was reconstructed in 1834, after the Eau Brink Cut had been completed. Sir John Rennie designed the new structure, which incorporated a tidal lock with four sets of gates, enabling it to be used at most states of the tide. Sir Thomas Cullam, who had inherited a part share of the upper river, invested large amounts of his own money in rebuilding the locks, sluices and staunches in the 1830s and 1840s. The South Level Drainage and Navigation Act of 1827 created Commissioners who dredged the river from Hermitage Lock to Littleport bridge, and also dredged several of its tributaries. They constructed a new cut near Ely to bypass a long meander near Padnall Fen and Burnt Fen, but although the works cost £70,000, they were too late to return the navigation to prosperity. Railways arrived in the area rapidly after 1845, reaching Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon, King's Lynn, St Ives, St Neots and Tempsford by 1850. The river below King's Lynn was improved by the construction of the |
9606_19 | Marsh Cut and the building of training walls beyond that to constrain the channel, but the railways were welcomed by the Bedford Levels Corporation, for whom navigation interfered with drainage, and by King's Lynn Corporation, who did not want to be superseded by other towns with railway interchange facilities. |
9606_20 | A large interchange dock was built at Ely, to facilitate the distribution of agricultural produce from the local region to wider markets. In addition, coal for several isolated pumping stations was transferred to boats for the final part of the journey, rather than it coming all the way from King's Lynn. Decline on most of the river was rapid, with tolls halving between 1855 and 1862. Flooding in 1875 was blamed on the poor state of the navigation, and it was recommended that it should be abandoned, but there was no funds to obtain an Act of Parliament to create a Drainage Authority. The navigation was declared to be derelict by three County Councils soon afterwards. It was then bought by the Ouse River Canal and Steam Navigation Ltd, who wanted to link Bedford to the Grand Junction Canal, but they failed to obtain their Act of Parliament. A stockbroker called L. T. Simpson bought it in 1893, and spent some £21,000 over the next four years in restoring it. He created the Ouse |
9606_21 | Transport Company, running a fleet of tugs and lighters, and then attempted to get approval for new tolls, but was opposed by Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire County Councils. Protracted legal battles followed, with Simpson nailing the lock gates together, and the County Councils declaring that the river was a public highway. The 'Godmanchester' case eventually reached the House of Lords in 1904, who allowed Simpson to close the locks. |
9606_22 | The Leisure Age |
9606_23 | Simpson's victory in 1904 coincided with an increased use of the river for leisure. As he could not charge these boats for use of the locks, the situation was resolved for a time in 1906 by the formation of the River Ouse Locks Committee, who rented the locks between Great Barford and Bedford. Over 2000 boats were recorded using Bedford Lock in a three-month period soon afterwards. Despite pressure from local authorities and navigation companies, the upper river was closed for trade, and a Royal Commission reported in 1909 on the poor state of the lower river, the lack of any consistent authority to manage it, and the unusual practice of towing horses having to jump over fences because there were no gates where they crossed the towing path. The Ouse Drainage Board was formed in 1918, but had no powers to deal with navigation issues, and it was not until the powers of the Land Drainage Act (1930) were used to create the Great Ouse Catchment Board that effective action could be taken. |
9606_24 | The Catchment Board bought the navigation rights from Simpson's estate, and began to dredge the river and rebuild the locks. There was an upturn in commercial traffic from 1925, when the sugar beet factory at Queen Adelaide near Ely was opened. They operated six or seven tugs and a fleet of over 100 barges, and three tugs and 24 barges from the Wissington sugar beet factory on the River Wissey also operated on the river. Local commercial traffic continued around Ely until after the Second World War. The sugar beet traffic ceased in 1959, and the last commercial boat on the upper river was "Shellfen", a Dutch barge converted to carry of diesel fuel, which supplied the remote pumping stations until 1974, when the last ones were converted to electricity. |
9606_25 | Below Denver, the situation was complicated by the fact that there were six bodies with responsibility for the river in 1913. No dredging took place, as there was no overall authority. The training walls were repaired in 1930 by the King's Lynn Conservancy Board, and the Great Ouse Catchment Board reconstructed and extended them in 1937. After major flooding in 1937 and 1947, and the North Sea flood of 1953, flood control issues became more important, and the Cut-Off Channel was completed in 1964, to carry the headwaters of the River Wissey, River Lark and River Little Ouse to join the river near Denver sluice. The Great Ouse Relief Channel, which runs parallel to the main river for from here to Wiggenhall bridge, was constructed at the same time. It joins the river at a sluice above King's Lynn, and was made navigable in 2001, when the Environment Agency constructed a lock at Denver to provide access. |
9606_26 | By 1939, the Catchment Board had reopened the locks to Godmanchester and then to Eaton Socon; in 1951 the Great Ouse Restoration Society was formed to continue the process, and successfully campaigned for and assisted with the restoration. The Restoration Society campaign included the establishment of the Bedford to St. Neots Canoe Race in 1952 to publicise the case for navigational restoration. Now known as the Bedford Kayak Marathon, it is the longest established canoe race in the UK. In 1961 its organisers formalised canoeing activities on the river by forming the Viking Kayak Club.
Since 1996, the river has been the responsibility of the Environment Agency, who issue navigation licences. The upper river was fully reopened to Bedford with the rebuilding of Castle Mills lock in 1978.
Navigation connections |
9606_27 | The non-tidal reaches of the river are used for leisure boating, but remain largely separated from the rest of the British inland waterway system. Several of its tributaries are navigable, including the River Cam, the River Lark, the River Little Ouse and the River Wissey. Close to Denver sluice, Salters Lode lock gives access to the Middle Level Navigations, but the intervening section is tidal, and deters many boaters. Access to the Middle Level Navigations used to be possible via the Old Bedford River and Welches Dam lock, but the Environment Agency piled the entrance to the lock in 2006 and this route is no loger available for navigation. The proposed Fens Waterways Link, which aims to improve navigation from Lincoln to Cambridge may result in this section being upgraded, or a non-tidal link being created at Denver. |
9606_28 | There are two more proposed schemes to improve connections from the river to the Midlands waterway network (in addition to the Gt OuseNene link via the Middle Level). |
9606_29 | The first is for a Bedford and Milton Keynes waterway, to connect the river to the Grand Union Canal. This idea was first proposed in 1812, when John Rennie the Elder costed a junction canal from Fenny Stratford to Bedford. His estimate of £180,807 scared investors, and no progress was made. In 1838, there was another (failed) proposal to extend the Newport Pagnell Canal. The idea was revived once more in the 1880s, when the Ouse River Canal and Steam Navigation Ltd bought the river with the aim of creating the link. An enabling Act of Parliament was defeated, although Major Marindin, acting for the Board of Trade, was optimistic about the likely benefits. The modern version of the proposal is in progress since 1994, by the Bedford and Milton Keynes Waterway Trust, who have formed a partnership with 25 bodies, including local councils, British Waterways (and its successor, the Canal & River Trust) and various government agencies. A feasibility study was carried out in 2001, which |
9606_30 | looked at nine possible routes; by 2006, the cost of the preferred route was between £100 and £200 million. |
9606_31 | The second scheme is for an extension of the Great Ouse Relief Channel to link it to the River Nar, and provide a non-tidal link to King's Lynn. The project would include a large marina, and would be part of a much larger regeneration project for the south side of the town. Two locks would be required to raise boats from the Relief Channel to the River Nar. |
9606_32 | Wildlife
As the water quality has improved, otters have returned to the river in numbers such that fishing lakes now require fencing to protect stocks. Paxton Pits nature reserve near St Neots has hides from which otters are regularly seen. Coarse fishing is still popular, with a wide range of fish in the river, but it is many years since large sturgeon were caught. Seals have been recorded as far upstream as Bedford. Huntingdonshire seems to be the most popular area for breeding animals in recent years.
Tributaries |
9606_33 | Tributaries of the River Great Ouse: (upstream [source] to downstream by confluence)
Padbury Brook: Two streams that join to form one watercourse just south of Padbury in Buckinghamshire: the eastern twin starts near Addington and the Claydons and flows northwest to join the western twin, which starts near Somerton in Oxfordshire. From here it flows due East, through Fewcott, Stoke Lyne, Fringford and Twyford, before joining its twin and flowing north to join the Great Ouse east of Buckingham.
River Leck
River Tove
River Ouzel (or Lovat)
River Ivel
River Kym
River Cam
Soham Lode
River Lark
River Little Ouse
River Wissey
Old Bedford River
New Bedford River (also known as Hundred Foot Drain)
River Nar
Gaywood River
Babingley River
Water sports |
9606_34 | In 1944 the annual Boat Race between the Oxford and Cambridge universities took place on this river, between Littleport and Queen Adelaide, the first time that it had not been held on the Thames; it was won by Oxford. The 2021 Boat Race was again held on the river because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Great Ouse has been used by three clubs from Cambridge University for the training of rowers, with the Boat Club (CUBC), the Women's Boat Club (CUWBC) and the Lightweight Rowing Club (CULRC), all using facilities at Ely; the clubs merged in 2020.
The Great Ouse is a very popular river for canoeing and kayaking, particularly around Bedford which is a regional centre for the sport. Viking Kayak Club organise the Bedford Kayak Marathon with canoe racing held along the Embankment on Bedford's riverside and dates back to the original Bedford to St Neots race in 1952, believed to be the first of its kind in the country. |
9606_35 | Bedford also benefits from the presence of weirs and sluices, creating white water opportunities. Viking organise national ranking Canoe Slalom events at the Cardington Artificial Slalom Course (CASC), which was the first artificial whitewater course in the UK, opened in 1982 adjacent to Cardington Lock, in a partnership with the Environment Agency who use it as a flood relief channel. CASC is also the venue each year for the UK's National Inter Clubs Slalom Finals, the largest canoe slalom event by participation in the UK.
Since 1978, the Bedford River Festival has been held every two years, to celebrate the link between Bedford and the coast. In addition to craft often seen on the river, the 2008 festival featured a reconstruction of a 1st-century currach, consisting of a wicker framework covered in cow hide, and capable of carrying ten people.
In 2021, the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities was once again held on the River Great Ouse.
See also |
9606_36 | Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust
Bedford Rowing Club
The Boat Race
Cardington Artificial Slalom Course
The Ouse Valley Way (Long-distance footpath along the Ouse)
Rivers of the United Kingdom
RSPB Ouse Washes (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserve)
WWT Welney (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve)
Viking Kayak Club
References
Bibliography
External links
Useful information on the river from Jim Shead
Drainage and Rivers of Fens
The Ouse Washes Website
Seal, Bluntisham
Rivers of Northamptonshire
Rivers of Buckinghamshire
Rivers of Bedfordshire
Rivers of Cambridgeshire
Rivers of Norfolk
River navigations in the United Kingdom |
9607_0 | is a 1992 Indo-Japanese anime film directed by and produced by Yugo Sako and based on the Indian epic the Ramayana. The original English version with Sanskrit songs was screened and released on home video under various names including Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama and Warrior Prince.
This film was made as a part of the 40th anniversary of India-Japan diplomatic relations and was worked on by teams from both countries. It was released in the United States in a different, further localized English dub with narration by James Earl Jones, prince Rama voiced by Bryan Cranston and additional music by Alan Howarth as The Prince of Light: The Legend of Ramayana on November 9, 2001. Moriyasu Taniguchi was an uncredited character designer and the original music was composed by Vanraj Bhatia. Arun Govil, who is popularly known for playing the role of Rama in Ramayan (1987 TV series) voiced Prince Rama in the Hindi version. |
9607_1 | It was the opening film of the 2000 Lucca Animation Film Festival in Italy, a highlight of the Cardiff Animation Film Festival in the United Kingdom and won Best Animation Film of the Year at the 2000 Santa Clarita International Film Festival in the United States.
Plot
Introduction
A number of demons are terrorizing the sages. They attack and kill in masses. One powerful sage Vishwamitra, who has been blessed with divine weapons, cannot defeat them all alone. He then prays to the Gods. The Gods answer and instruct Vishwamitra to seek the young Prince of Ayodhya Rama- a noble and strong fighter. Ayodhya is a rich and beautiful kingdom ruled by a powerful king called Dasharath. He has 3 wives and 4 sons. Vishwamitra seeks the King and requests Rama's aid. Dasharath rejects as he is in fear for Rama's young life. However, Rama steps up and gracefully accepts the Sage's request. Rama's younger brother Lakshman joins him for support. |
9607_2 | The Sage takes the brothers to the demon-infested forest where a giant demon called Tatakha has been leading the demon attacks. Rama is instructed to put an end to this. The Sage then teaches the brothers prayers which attracts Tatakha- a giant demon. Lakshman shoots an arrow at her but that only injures her. Tatakha throws a tree but the brothers move out of the way. Rama arms himself with an arrow and chants a mantra. He shoots the arrow which kills Tatakha.
Rama and Lakshman are awarded divine weapons granted by Vishwamitra. While practicing with the weapons, Tadakha's son Maricha seeks revenge on Rama and attacks him. He breathes fire on Rama who is forced to shield himself. Lakshman kills some of the other demons along with Rama. Maricha escapes and promises to seek revenge. Sage Vishwamitra awards Rama with a chakra which he will need in a great battle. |
9607_3 | The three head to the kingdom of Mithila where there is an opportunity to marry the beautiful princess Sita. Rama and Sita create love at first sight. In the swayamvara, to win Sita's hand in marriage, the participant (the kings) must lift up a divine bow, but only a humble and compassionate man will be able to lift it. Many kings came close to lifting it but failed. Then Rama steps up and lifts the bow. However, he struggles but with Sita's prayers he lifts it and marries Sita. They live for many years in peace and love.
The exile of Rama
After many years, Rama grows older. King Dasharath then gives an announcement that he wants to step down from the throne. He announces Rama to be the king which Rama gladly accepts. Everyone is happy for Rama to be king apart from a maid called Manthra. |
9607_4 | Manthra meets Dasharath's second wife Kaikeyi who is the mother of Rama's brother Bharat. Bharat and Shatrugan (another one of Rama's brothers) are in another kingdom on a visit. Manthra tells Kaikeyi that Rama does not deserve to be a king and convinces Kaikeyi to go against the King and make sure Bharat becomes king. Kaikeyi meets Dasharath and reminds him that he owes her two boons. Kaikeyi then tells her boons to Dasharath which were Bharat to be king and Rama to be exiled for 14 years. This upsets Dasharath greatly. |
9607_5 | Rama hears these wishes and has no ill feelings for Kaikeyi. He respectfully accepts her wishes and gets ready to depart for the forest. Lakshman shouts at Rama saying he must not give up so easily but Rama calms him down and says he must accept his family's wishes. Sita then joins Rama to support him and Lakshman does the same. Rama changes his attire - He has cloth going around his torso and waist with cloth down his legs. He wears an old necklace with some old beaded bands on his wrists and arms. He ties his long hair in a half bun with the rest of his hair down. He takes off his sandals and has to live life barefoot to symbolize and support his simple forest dweller life. |
9607_6 | The three of them get ready to depart. Rama consoles his own mother and promises to come back safe. He then consoles his father who is in fear of Rama's life. Rama then says he will be protected by Lakshman and Sita. He asks for his blessings and leaves. The people of Ayodhya desperately try to stop Rama from leaving. Rama then tells the people to take heart and support the kingdom. At that point, Dasharath senses a danger lurking onto Rama and faints. The three then board a boat to take them a far forest away from the kingdom. Sita cries and gets consoled by Lakshman. Rama hangs his head in sorrow but stays strong and starts his long exile.
Life in the forest |
9607_7 | The three arrive and set up home in a secluded forest. For 6 months Dasharath is in an ill state of health begging for Rama, but he eventually dies. Bharat and Shatrughna hear the news and arrive at Ayodhya. Bharat then learns that Kaikeyi has banished Rama and made her son king which upsets him. Bharat and Shatrughna then leave for the forest. They meet Rama and tell him the news. Rama collapses onto the grass and cries loudly. He blames himself. Bharat consoles the tearful Rama and begs him to come back. Rama however requests Bharat that he must rule the kingdom and Rama must be in exile for 14 years. |
9607_8 | For the next 10 years, Rama and Sita along with Lakshman live an idyllic life in the forest. They live in harmony and peace. They meet a vulture called Jatayu and become friends with him. After 10 years, the King of Lanka Ravana - a ferocious demon with immense power, learns that Rama is staying in the forest. His sister Surpanakha has a thought that Rama is handsome and wants to meet him. Ravana however calls him a coward as he got banished from his own kingdom. Surpanakha vows to meet him. |
9607_9 | Rama collects water and returns to the hut. At that moment a beautiful lady is famished by Rama's beautiful face and his long black beautiful hair. She asks for his hand in marriage. Rama then tells her he is devoted to Sita and rejects the lady. The lady however turns into a demon and is actually Surpanakha in disguise. The demoness hurts Rama and attacks Sita. Rama tries to defend her but both he and Sita get injured. Lakshman then saves Rama and Sita by cutting off Surpanakha's nose. The demoness runs away while Rama and Sita step back.
The injured Surpanakha returns to Lanka crying to Ravana about what happened. Enraged with anger, he vows to kill Rama. Surpankha however convinces him to torture Rama by abducting his wife and when he arrives to rescue her, Ravana can kill Rama.
The abduction of Sita |
9607_10 | Ravana recruits Maricha to help with the abduction. Maricha transforms into a golden deer to attract Sita. Sita sees the deer and asks Rama to carefully capture it for her. Rama agrees and arms himself with a bow. He creeps up gently but the deer escapes. Lakshman warns Rama of the demons and Rama instructs him to protect Sita.
Rama tries to capture the deer but the deer magically slips past him. Rama realizes it is a demon and kills it. Before dying, Maricha warns Rama of his wife which greatly scares Rama. Maricha imitates Rama's voice and screams for help. Lakshman and Sita hear Rama's scream and get worried. Lakshman then goes to rescue his brother but casts an enchanted spell (Lakshman Rekha) to protect Sita. |
9607_11 | A sage emerges and asks Sita for alms. Sita then says the sage must wait as she is currently in a protected spell and cannot cross the Lakshman Rekha. The sage then taunts her into leaving the hut which she does. This breaks the spell and at that point, the sage transforms into Ravana. He grabs Sita and takes her away.
Lakshman meets Rama in the forest. Rama desperately asks why he isn't with Sita. Rama then explains the story of the demon and he fears for Sita. They rush back to protect her. But it was too late, Ravana was taking Sita away in a flying chariot. Sita screams for help. Jatayu sees Sita and tries to rescue her but he gets attacked and falls. |
9607_12 | Rama returns to the hut and sees Sita's flowers scattered on the ground. He cries for her, Lakshman calms him down and leads the search for Sita where Rama will follow him. A deer guides the brothers in the right direction and they depart. They meet Jatayu who is lying in pain. Rama consoles him and tries to heal him. He thanks Jatayu for his efforts and cries when he dies.
At that point, Ravana returns to Lanka with Sita. He explains to everyone that she will be imprisoned in the castle gardens. While being imprisoned, Sita longs for Rama and desperately wants him to rescue her.
The search for Sita |
9607_13 | Rama and Lakshman looked all over the lands until they stumble upon a giant mountain. The mountain however begins to move and throws Rama over. The mountain is actually a giant demon on which Lakshman shoots an arrow injuring the giant. The demon then hurts Rama pushing him to the ground. Rama uses his arrows and grabs on to the arm. However, he gets stuck and can't escape. He gets pulled closer to the mouth of the demon. Lakshman assesses the danger Rama is in and injures the demon more. Rama then slashes the demon's eye which kills it. The demon collapses along with Rama. Rama falls while the demon gets destroyed. Rama gets up and sees the demon was actually cursed. The spirit instructs Rama to find Sugriva. |
9607_14 | After many months of searching for Sugriva, they see a mountain with people on it. They prepare to visit but they are stopped by a flying monkey called Hanuman. He praises Rama and greets him. He then takes both of them to Sugriva - A vanara warrior. Rama meets Sugriva and he tells them about his wife. Sugriva then mentions he heard a cry for help calling Rama's name. He then mentions a scarf falling down and Rama begs to see it. He then recognizes the scarf to be Sita's and cries for Sita's name. He gets encouraged by his brother and Sugriva warns him to stay strong. Sugriva has been exiled from his own kingdom for several days and makes a deal with Rama.
Rama then regains the kingdom and Sugriva collates an army to search for Sita. Rama distributes Sita's ornaments and says if they find Sita, they should present them and return with Sita. Rama gives his ring to Hanuman and tells him to fly to Lanka. After months of searching the rescue parties returned empty-handed. |
9607_15 | Hanuman reaches Lanka and tries to find Sita. He sees a crying woman getting berated by demons. The demons insult Rama and leave making Sita cry for her husband. Hanuman then meets Sita and gracefully meets her. He gains her trust by presenting the ring. He mentions Rama cries onto this ring often. Sita then hugs the ring and thinks about Rama. Hanuman offers to take her back to Rama but she declines, the reason being Ravana will still be at large. Rama must defeat Ravana in battle in order to save her. Hanuman understands and has hope Rama will fight Ravana and defeat him. |
9607_16 | Hanuman then confronts Ravana and says he must return Sita to Rama or else he will die. Insulted by the fact Rama has the capability to defeat him, he threatens to kill Hanuman. However, Ravana's brother Vibhishan advises him not to so Ravana sets Hanuman's tail on fire. Hanuman however feels no pain and sets the city on fire. He returns to Rama. Ravana is advised again by his brother to return Sita in order to save the kingdom, but Ravana gets disgusted by this and banishes Vibhishan. |
9607_17 | Hanuman returns to Rama and explains Rama must fight Ravana in order to save Sita. Rama understands this and journeys to Lanka. However, he struggles to find a way across the sea. After weeks of struggle, Vibhishan meets Rama and joins him. He advises Rama to pray to the Sea God. Rama obeys and for 7 days he continuously prays. On the 7th night, the Sea God blesses Rama by sending a wave. He instructs Rama to build a bridge of stones with his name engraved on the stones to walk across the sea for reaching Lanka.
The journey to Lanka
Rama then starts constructing the bridge and he along with his army place stones in the water. After weeks of building Rama prepares his army and they walk across the sea. Rama is now prepared to fight Ravana. |
9607_18 | Rama's army arrives at the coast of Lanka and sets up there. After a few days, Rama changes his strategy. Rama then explains that the past years have been hard for him and he is now prepared to fight Ravana in battle. But he has a plan to prevent a war with peace. He says if Sita is returned he will not fight and many lives will preserve. His army is in shock to see Rama in a cowardly state. Rama then explains he is no coward and wants peace. He asks a general called Angad to relay this message to Ravana. When he does, Ravana laughs at this and expresses his desire for war. Rama then realizes he must fight for Sita and his army is prepared to fight in the war.
The battle
The war begins the next day. Many soldiers are injured at the first stages. Ravana's army is using all available demons to wipe out Rama's army. |
9607_19 | After a long day of fighting, Rama is sad to see the number of soldiers injured or dead. He then hosts a funeral for both armies. Lakshman then asks why Rama is cremating Ravana's men. Rama replies that everyone deserves a funeral. Lakshman shouts at him and says a warrior like him must not give in to emotion. Rama then explains that he is a fighter of peace and justice and that he will burn the dead. He will pray for a more peaceful world. |
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