{"id":15769,"date":"2026-07-24T14:24:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T09:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=15769"},"modified":"2026-07-24T14:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T09:24:27","slug":"still-in-critical-condition-big-bear-eagle-jackie-gets-life-saving-blood-transfusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=15769","title":{"rendered":"Still in critical condition, Big Bear eagle Jackie gets life-saving blood transfusion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/2c8fea9\/2147483647\/strip\/false\/crop\/1777x1428+0+0\/resize\/1500x1205!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fba%2Ffc%2F8622999b4d45a83954b577784145%2Fscreenshot-jackie-eagle-01.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>Nearly a week after being rescued near Big Bear Lake, Jackie \u2014 half of a celebrity bald eagle couple \u2014 remains in critical condition as veterinarians continue to puzzle over the cause of her maladies. Back at the nest, Shadow is caring for their eaglets but may be spending time with a younger female.<\/p>\n<p>Suffering from severe anemia and kidney inflammation, Jackie received a life-saving blood transfusion but is still in intensive care. The blood was provided by Spirit, an eagle living at a Bakersfield zoo, according to the Ojai Raptor Center, where she\u2019s receiving treatment. <\/p>\n<p>Announced <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DbJgk_TkqVa\/?hl=en&amp;img_index=3\" target=\"_blank\">in an Instagram post<\/a> Thursday, the center said the 14-year-old eagle\u2019s kidney inflammation has improved. But experts are still trying to understand the cause of her anemia. They\u2019ve ruled out lead toxicity and the presence of objects like fishing hooks and weights. Photos accompanying the post show staff tending to the eagle, who appears massive on a medical table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe eagle continues to perch and eat, and there is slight improvement in her energy,\u201d says the center\u2019s Eliza Cameron in the post. \u201cHer condition remains critical at this time, and this is not a straightforward case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For now, she\u2019s receiving intensive treatment in the center\u2019s urgent care unit, and her care team says it\u2019s too soon to predict the outcome. The Ojai Raptor Center doesn\u2019t refer to its patient as Jackie, but as bald eagle \u201c26-519,\u201d noting in an earlier post that it can\u2019t be 100% sure of the bird\u2019s identity but suspect it hails from the duo made famous by a nest livestream that draws thousands of viewers.<\/p>\n<p>Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that runs the livestream, is pretty confident it\u2019s Jackie based on visual identification and the fact that the matriarch has been missing from her nest overlooking Big Bear Lake.<\/p>\n<p>Weak and tired, Jackie was scooped up from the north shore of Big Bear Lake in the wee hours of Saturday by a team from the San Dimas Raptor Rescue. She was underweight with disheveled feathers and feet caked with mud. A video taken shortly before her rescue showed Jackie sparring with two younger eagles, as she flipped on her back to ward them off with her talons.<\/p>\n<p>Not permitted to care for bald eagles, the San Dimas team moved her to the Ojai facility later that day.<\/p>\n<p>In her absence, Shadow is pulling double duty, caring for two growing eaglets \u2014 Sandy and Luna \u2014 by feeding them and protecting their territory. The sudden absence of his mate of eight years has left many nest cam fans to wonder what\u2019s next for the family.<\/p>\n<p>Shadow \u2014 Jackie\u2019s junior by two years \u2014 was spotted Wednesday with a subadult eagle on a favorite perch tree.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is difficult to be certain of which visiting eagle this was due to the distance, but it is possibly a 4+ year old female that has been hanging around and had the short battle with Jackie,\u201d Friends of Big Bear Valley <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FOBBV\/posts\/pfbid02JFdC28guzZuL1ZP9QruzoFAQ77L1Mx97yyFJkcrqBCK2zVWarp7nCtdUxFoeVQQHl\" target=\"_blank\">wrote in a Facebook post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The nonprofit added that an eagle expert said it was unlikely that Shadow would \u201cmove on now\u201d in light of his bond with Jackie, and he isn\u2019t expected to be looking for a mate \u201cuntil his hormones kick in\u201d in late December or early January.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do have to realize he is a wild and free eagle, and it is up to Shadow what direction he goes,\u201d the post states.<\/p>\n<p>The revelation of Shadow\u2019s possible perch-cute spurred an array of emotions from the family\u2019s devotees.<\/p>\n<p>It upset some, with one commenter writing, \u201cI\u2019m sitting over here crying for Jackie and Shadow. And he\u2019s off sniffing other feathers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others appeared more understanding: \u201cPeople need to realize these are eagles &#8230; and will do what instincts tell them to. And everything will be fine, regardless of what paths they each may take.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly a week after being rescued near Big Bear Lake, Jackie \u2014 half of a celebrity bald eagle couple \u2014 remains in critical condition as veterinarians continue to puzzle over the cause of her maladies. Back at the nest, Shadow is caring for their eaglets but may be spending time with a younger female. Suffering&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/fa6be0e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1777x933+0+248\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fba%2Ffc%2F8622999b4d45a83954b577784145%2Fscreenshot-jackie-eagle-01.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}