BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif., Aug. 10 (Our Hesperia) — Bald eagle Jackie, a well-known bird associated with a livestreamed nest in California’s Big Bear Valley, died Aug. 10 after her health continued to worsen during more than three weeks of intensive treatment, the Ojai Raptor Center said.
The center identified Jackie as Patient 26-519. Her remains were transferred to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which may help determine more about the illness that led to her death.
The center has not announced a cause of illness or death. It said it planned to provide more information about her treatment and test results while working with state and federal wildlife officials.
How Jackie became ill
Jackie was rescued July 17 by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation’s San Dimas Raptor Rescue team. She had been found weak and unable to fly near the Dana Point Park area by Big Bear Lake after an apparent fight with two younger eagles.
The fight may have left Jackie grounded, but Chris Eksteen, executive director of the Ojai Raptor Center, told the Los Angeles Times that it did not explain the symptoms that followed. Eksteen said Jackie appeared to have been sick for some time before she was found.
Initial bloodwork, described in a July 21 update from the Ojai Raptor Center, showed severe anemia and inflammation affecting her kidneys. Anemia means the blood does not have enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen through the body.
Jackie received a blood transfusion and other supportive care. Reports on her treatment also referred to advanced diagnostic testing, including a CT scan and a bone marrow biopsy, but the results of those tests have not been released.
Why her blood levels mattered
The center monitored Jackie’s packed cell volume, or PCV. PCV measures the portion of blood made up of red blood cells and is one way veterinarians track anemia.
The center reported that Jackie’s PCV fell to 13% on Aug. 3. It dropped below 6% on Aug. 8 and rose to 9% the next day. The center said the desired level was above 30%.
Although the increase was a small improvement, the Ojai Raptor Center said Jackie remained critically ill. She was given oxygen therapy, supportive treatment and around-the-clock monitoring in an intensive care unit.
The center said her care involved a collaborative team that included nine veterinarians, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Despite those efforts, the center said, Jackie’s condition continued to deteriorate.
A public California wildlife story
Jackie was known to viewers who followed a Big Bear Valley nest through livestream cameras operated by Friends of Big Bear Valley. She was identified in reports as the longtime partner of another bald eagle, Shadow.
Her death is a case involving one wild bird. The available information does not establish a broader environmental or population trend, and no such monitoring data or ecological study was provided with the medical updates.
The next public information about Jackie’s illness could come from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife or from the Ojai Raptor Center’s planned treatment and testing summary. The agencies have not publicly released findings in the information available so far.
