As Jackie the bald eagle fights for life, her doctors face harassment

When a small raptor center in Southern California began caring for the
most famous bald eagle on Earth, the keyboard veterinarians started
piping up. 

It started in mid-July when Jackie the bald eagle of Big Bear Lake
arrived at the Ojai Raptor Center, about 170 miles from the home she
shares with longtime partner Shadow. Jackie, who had fought off two
other eagles in her territory but was suffering from a mysterious
underlying illness, has now been at the facility for about three weeks
and counting. 

"Find the possible spider bite," suggested one woman on a health update
about Jackie posted on July 23. Others were certain that Jackie's health
would improve if the raptor center would only play her audio of Shadow
and the couple's two eaglets. Another wondered if "the stress of being
in confinement and away from her family will also make her give up." 

As the posts flooded in, so did the phone calls. The raptor's small
staff was quickly inundated to the point where they began pleading with
people to let them concentrate on their work to help sick and injured
birds. In recent days, the calls and social media posts have only
snowballed. 

"It's like a firehose of people having questions and emotions," said
Jenny Voisard, a spokeswoman for Friends of Big Bear Valley, the group
that made Jackie famous by installing the live 24/7 eagle nest camera
that now streams in millions of homes across the world. 

Complicating matters is the use of AI photos and misinformation on
social media that have only stressed out Jackie's already anxious fan
base. Some people have even accused the raptor center of only keeping
Jackie to attract more donations, an upsetting allegation for the
facility that takes in as many as 1,500 sick, injured or orphaned birds
every year. 

"Veterinarians, wildlife rehabilitators, and support staff increasingly
face constant requests for information, repeated phone calls, unexpected
visits, messages on their personal social media accounts, and, in some
cases, contact at their private homes," the Ojai Raptor Center posted on
Aug. 4. "While these actions are often driven by genuine concern, they
can create significant distractions for the very people whose attention
needs to remain on patient care." 

As Jackie continues to fight for her life, USA TODAY is looking at some
of the challenges facing her caregivers, why some of her fans are
overwhelming them and the latest disheartening update about her health. 

How is Jackie doing?
Jackie remains in critical condition in intensive care at the Ojai
Raptor Center, where she's getting oxygen therapy, supportive treatment
and around-the-clock monitoring, the facility shared in an update on
Friday, Aug. 7. 

It was the second time in recent days that Jackie's caregivers reported
a decline in her packed cell volume, or the percentage of red blood
cells in her stream. A normal range is between 35% and 55%. When Jackie
first arrived to the facility, that figure was at 8% but had improved to
16% within a couple days. It's now back below 10%, the raptor center
said Friday. 

"We know how deeply many of you care about this eagle, and we understand
how difficult it is to receive an update like this," center Director
Chris Eksteen said in a video update. "We wish we had better news to
share." 

Jackie's caregivers are consulting closely with specialists across the
country as they "determine the next steps in her care." 

Eksteen said that a CT scan and bone marrow biopsy that Jackie underwent
this week "have provided our veterinary team with important new
information, but we do not yet have the complete picture." He said the
team is conducting some additional specialized testing. 

"At this stage, our priority is to provide (Jackie) with the supportive
care that she needs, while closely monitoring her welfare and allowing
our veterinary team and consulting specialists the time necessary to
carefully evaluate this week's findings," he said. "Every decision that
we make continues to be guided by her medical condition, her welfare,
and what is in her best interest." 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/08/07/jackie-bald-eagle-o
jai-raptor-center-harassment-ai-photos/91190771007/