Fans Remember Jackie the Eagle, Who Became a Social Media Star Worldwide: ‘Regal, Fierce, Deeply Devoted’
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- Jackie the bald eagle died Monday after several weeks in intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center, having been found grounded in July following a fight with younger eagles and also suffering from anemia.
- A Big Bear webcam documenting Jackie's nest with partner Shadow had amassed 822,000 YouTube subscribers and over a million Facebook followers over the past decade.
- Senator Adam Schiff and actress Holly Robinson Peete led the celebrity tributes, with Schiff noting his Washington office displayed the nest livestream alongside C-SPAN and national news.
- The Ojai Raptor Center said every medical decision for Jackie was guided by available evidence and her welfare, calling it "an extraordinary privilege" to care for her.
- Shadow, Jackie's partner, may have already moved a new eagle into the nest with virtually no mourning period, according to observers.
- The public response nearly rivaled the mourning for mountain lion P-22, euthanized in 2022 and later memorialized with an annual festival and a merchandise line benefiting the parks department.
Why it matters: Following the P-22 precedent — whose 2022 euthanasia spawned an annual festival and merchandise line benefiting parks — Jackie's death has already produced fan-made t-shirts documented by Rolling Stone, with the source itself flagging a possible documentary or feature deal.
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