Jackie, the beloved California bald eagle whose life was watched live by millions around the world, died from complications resulting from avian flu, according to a newly released autopsy report.
“Jackie’s necropsy confirmed that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was the primary underlying cause of her decline,” Steve Kubiski, director of disease investigations for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said in a statement Wednesday (Oct. 14).
The newly released report sheds light on the mysterious illness that veterinarians struggled to treat throughout the summer. The life of the bald eagle from Big Bear Lake, California, was broadcast live on YouTube, causing it to become an object of global fascination and making its hometown virtually synonymous with America’s iconic bird.
She died in August after a weeks-long battle with an illness that baffled Eagle doctors. Efforts to save the eagle saw Jackie hospitalized and placed under anesthesia for vets to carry out what many hoped would be a life-saving blood transfusion. Veterinary pathologists from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance performed the necropsy.
Jackie, the famous bald eagle from Big Bear Lake in Southern California, is pictured at the Ojai Raptor Center where she is being evaluated.
According to the report released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the bird flu left Jackie with a severe stomach ulcer that led to continued blood loss and ultimately a fatal bacterial infection.
“Together, the results showed that Jackie suffered from several serious, interconnected disease processes that developed over time and ultimately led to her decline and death,” the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said of the report.
The state agency said HPAI is a highly infectious disease that circulates among wild bird populations across the United States. Eagles and other raptors are thought to contract the disease through contact with infected birds or eating infected prey. Waterfowl and shorebirds are natural carriers of the virus.
Jackie was born in 2012, the first eaglet to do so in Big Bear Valley, USA TODAY previously reported. His parents, Ricky and Lucy, became the first known adult eagles to decide to stay in Big Bear Valley, which until then had only been a part-time winter destination for the species. Big Bear Lake is about an hour northeast of San Bernardino, Southern California. She lived in Big Bear Valley in the San Bernardino National Forest.
She became a viral sensation a few years later when U.S. Forest Service employee Sandy Steers came up with the idea of installing a webcam 120 feet off the forest floor to broadcast her life.
Jackie found her first romance in 2017 when she mated with an eagle named MB. The pair’s eggs hatched in 2018, and while one of the eaglets died after a 24-hour rainstorm, the other, named Stormy, survived and left Big Bear that summer.
His second companion, Shadow, remains in Big Bear, state authorities said. California wildlife officials said there was no indication he or their eaglets, Sandy and Luna, were sick.
“The story of the Big Bear bald eagle reflects the powerful connection people feel with these iconic birds,” said Meghan Hertel, director of the wildlife agency. “We are grateful to everyone who cared for her and worked to promote her well-being. Understanding the results of these tests is an important part of learning about this case and can help inform the care and treatment of other eagles and wildlife in the future.”
This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Jackie the Bald Eagle’s Mysterious Cause of Death Revealed
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