Jackie, the bald eagle who became an internet sensation and a symbol of the species’ recovery in California, has died after being treated for an illness at a veterinary facility, her caretakers announced. The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation’s San Dimas Raptor Rescue team found Jackie on July 17 following reports that the bird had been involved in a fight with two other eagles and was ill, the AP reports. Jackie received medical treatment for three weeks at the Ojai Raptor Center for a variety of ailments including anemia. Despite undergoing a blood transfusion and oxygen therapy, her condition worsened and the center announced the death on Monday. She was 14, per the Los Angeles Times.
For more than a decade, fans watched via an online video feed as Jackie and her partner, Shadow, tended to their nest each year atop trees near Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles. The nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley installed the nest camera in 2015 and documented the successes and failures of each breeding season. In 2024, Jackie diligently sat on her eggs for more than 2½ days straight after a winter storm blanketed the nest with snow. Among those who enjoyed monitoring Jackie’s nests from afar was biologist Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society in central California. While his group was not involved with the Big Bear eagles, he sees their breeding as emblematic of the comeback the species has made in the state.
“You want to see a success story like that,” Sorenson said Monday. “Having access to a live cam to see the nesting first hand is very powerful. It brings people in on an emotional level.” American bald eagles teetered on the brink of extinction until the pesticide DDT was banned in the 1970s and other protections were established, leading the species to rebound and be removed from the federal endangered list. “We know this news will be deeply felt by the many thousands of people around the world who have followed her journey, hoped alongside us, prayed for her, and supported the people caring for her,” the center’s statement said. “Our team is heartbroken. It has been an extraordinary privilege to care for her.” Shadow remains in the nest, per KTLA.