Fans of the Big Bear Lake bald eagle have inundated a small raptor center with phone calls, online comments and even in-person visits. Jackie’s caregivers say it’s hindering their work.
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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.”
Stressed-out eagle fans want more information
In the roughly three weeks since Jackie has been at the Ojai Raptor Center, her caregivers have provided nine health updates, along with many photos and videos of her care. One video they shared showed Jackie being hand-fed, sitting in an oxygen chamber, being placed under anesthesia for diagnostic testing, and getting a blood transfusion that initially saved her life.
When several days go by without an update, her fans get anxious and some of them get angry. Someone even began an online petition demanding more updates.
“Heartbreak has turned to frustration. Fans and wildlife advocates are struggling to get clear, consistent information about Jackie’s condition and care,” the petition says. “The agencies and organizations responsible for her care have a responsibility to keep the public informed − not just with vague status updates, but with meaningful transparency about her diagnosis, treatment plan, and prognosis . . . The millions who love her deserve to know.”
The raptor center has said they are sharing new information when they have it. The Friends of Big Bear Valley has denounced the petition, saying this week that it “does nothing for Jackie, hinders her care team and only heightens people’s anxiety over the situation.”
“It is important to let Ojai do their job without interruptions. Please do not call, text, show up at their doors, or demand frequent updates,” the group posted on Facebook.
“It is a disappointment to see individuals leaving nasty comments on Ojai Raptor Centers Facebook updates and elsewhere,” the group continued. “Their goal is to get Jackie healthy and release her back to her territory, please let them do their job.”Voisard believes that people are overwhelming the raptor center, and Friends of Big Bear Valley, because they are preparing themselves for the worst and even pre-grieving the beloved bald eagle, triggering a stress response in some of them.
“It’s really freaking people out and what people tend to do in this situation, because there’s a lack of control and visibility, and certainty, they try to seek out information as a way of coping,” she said. “We’re experiencing that on steroids because of social media and because of Jackie’s fanbase.”
In a post this week about the dangers of social media and AI, the Ojai Raptor Center said that “stories can travel around the world in minutes.”
“Artificial intelligence can generate convincing photographs, videos, and articles that appear authentic but are entirely fabricated,” the center wrote. “Rumors quickly become accepted as fact, and speculation is often repeated long before accurate information is available. For the people caring for wildlife, this comes at a cost.”
Wildlife medicine “requires concentration, careful decision making, and often long hours of uninterrupted work,” the center said. “Every unnecessary interruption takes time and focus away from the animals depending on us.”
Healthy ways to cope with sadness, stress about Jackie
With Friday’s latest bad news about Jackie, Friends of Big Bear Valley shared some positive coping mechanisms for her stressed-out fans.
They can do something as simple as praying and thinking positive thoughts or something more active, like learning about their local wildlife rescue organizations and finding out how they can help, from volunteering to donating.
People can also research where in their area they would take an ill or injured animal and save that information for if and when the time comes.
Voisard recommends that people take a break from social media, avoid wading into the comments and if it’s too distressing, not to watch the videos showing Jackie’s treatment.
“The best thing is to stay positive,” she said. “Don’t pre-grieve until it’s time, don’t put that on yourself. We’re not there yet. Choose to be positive until you know otherwise because it doesn’t do her or us any good.”
Whatever happens to Queen Jackie, as her biggest fans fondly call her, the Ojai Raptor Center said in one recent post that she has “changed the future” and inspired millions of people to donate their money to protect habitat near her nest.
“The result is far bigger than one nest or one eagle,” the center said. “Generations of Bald Eagles, and all the wildlife that depends on this landscape can continue to thrive. That is the true power of conservation.”
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter who covers the death penalty, cold case investigations, breaking news − and sometimes eagles − for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.