AILSA CHANG, HOST:
It is a sad week for fans of Jackie and Shadow. They were, of course, the mated pair of bald eagles made famous by a video live stream of their nest, high up in a pine tree in Big Bear, California, some 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Rescuers announced Jackie's death early Monday. From member station KVCR in San Bernardino, Madison Aument reports.
MADISON AUMENT, BYLINE: For three weeks, the female bald eagle had been in and out of intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center in California. Center employees took her in after she was found on the ground near Big Bear Lake about a mile from her nest in the San Bernardino Mountains. She's not banded, but the organization that ran the live stream says it's her.
For at least a decade, Jackie delighted viewers who tuned into that live stream, which beamed her and her mate Shadow's eagle antics 24/7.
(SOUNDBITE OF EAGLE SCREACHING)
AUMENT: Viewers got to see her lay eggs, watch them hatch and see Jackie feed chicks like she is in this clip from April.
(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)
AUMENT: Many of those viewers are mourning now. Orsoyla Dunai, who lives in Los Angeles, has been following the Big Bear eagles since 2020.
ORSOYLA DUNAI: Yeah, this is a very personal thing. I feel like my old pet has passed or a family member or a friend. It is consuming grief.
AUMENT: She says that watching the eagles helped her get through some really tough times in her life.
Jackie had been found after fighting with two juvenile eagles. The Ojai Raptor Center said she was not injured in the fight but was suffering from severe anemia. It's not clear what caused the illness. Jackie was estimated to be about 14. U.S. Fish and Wildlife says eagles can live up to about 30 years in the wild. Her condition improved, then got worse over the last week. Jenny Voisard is with Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that runs the live stream. She says Jackie had a superpower.
JENNY VOISARD: Being able to connect so many different people across the world of different ages and different cultures.
AUMENT: Voisard says Jackie helped foster a love of nature for fans all over the world, and that legacy will continue. Jackie leaves behind Shadow, her mate of almost a decade, and several eaglets, including Luna and Sandy.
For NPR News, I'm Madison Aument in San Bernardino.
(SOUNDBITE OF JUSTICE DER'S "BLEACH") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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