Internet-famous bald eagle Jackie’s health is improving after a scare over the weekend, the latest twist in a saga that began when the raptor was rescued near Big Bear Lake earlier this month.
After receiving a life-saving blood transfusion last week, her blood values dropped again Saturday, the Ojai Raptor Center, which is treating Jackie, said in a social media post. They described it as a setback.
“Since then, she has improved once more,” the center said Monday. “She is eating on her own, her energy and alertness have noticeably improved, and she has become much more feisty during feedings.”
The center cited her “packed cell volume” — which measures the percentage of red blood cells in her bloodstream — as one of the most hopeful signs. It doubled to 16% on Monday compared to before the weekend. While still below normal, it’s “an encouraging improvement,” the center said.
It’s welcome news for Jackie’s legions of fans, who watch her and her mate Shadow bond and raise chicks via a livestream of their nest. But the matriarch isn’t out of the woods yet after being found weak and unable to fly on the north shore of Big Bear Lake on July 18.
Experts still haven’t determined what’s causing the eagle’s troubling symptoms, including kidney inflammation and severe anemia. Amid the positive developments, with the inflammation improving, she remains in critical condition.
While experts try to lock in a diagnosis, the center reported she’s receiving several prophylactic treatments and they are “cautiously hopeful.”
To the joy of many Jackie supporters, news broke Friday that OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and his wife Anna donated $5.5 million to help purchase land that was slated for development near her family’s nest.
Friends of Big Bear Valley, a nonprofit that operates the nest livestream, has long argued that the roughly 63-acre parcel is a critical hunting groundfor the local eagles.
With the Brockman’s contribution, the fundraising goal of $10 million is met and the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust can complete the transaction by the July 31 deadline. OpenAI is the artificial intelligence giant behind ChatGPT and Greg Brockman’s net worth is estimated to be over $25 billion.
“I’m so happy for this,” Jenny Voisard, website and media manager for Friends of Big Bear Valley, told the Times last week. “I think we needed a little bit of good news given Jackie’s situation.”
In its latest post, the Ojai Raptor Center included a video montage of some of Jackie’s milestones in treatment:
The day she arrived, Dr. Kathryn Rasp is shown examining the raptor, stretching out a large wing. (Bald eagles can have a wingspan of up to eight feet.)
On July 20, Jackie’s still weak and lethargic even after receiving fluids and nutritional support for emaciation, the video notes. She slumps over a cloth in the arms of a caretaker with her eyes closed, but rouses when another person brings her what appears to be raw meat.
The next day, the video shows care staff anesthetizing Jackie for the blood transfusion and notes she was stronger and more alert the next day.
On Sunday, after her setback, she squawks half halfheartedly a few times, with the center affirming she’s “brighter.”
“Recovery is rarely linear,” the center said. “We remain cautiously hopeful as we continue searching for the underlying cause of her illness.”