Bald eagle Jackie 'underweight but alert' after rescue near Big Bear nest

[00:00:00]Big Bear bald eagle Jackie is capturing hearts around the world once again. An eagle believed to be Jackie is on the mend after being rescued over the weekend.

[00:00:08]>> If you look at live there, that is a shot of Sandy and Luna. They're in the nest that in the nest that Jackie brought them up in. I witness reporter Denise Theodore here now with an update on what we have learned after Jackie went missing from the nest she shares with her mate Shadow. Denise?

[00:00:23]>> Well, you know, we love Jackie and her mate Shadow because they're a power couple. In a world where only 30 to 40% of bald eagles live long enough to breed, these two are a success story.

[00:00:33]But Jackie hasn't been seen at her nest for nearly 10 days, now a week. 8-lb eagle being cared for at the Ojai Raptor Center appears to be her and is getting the best care possible.

[00:00:43]>> The beautiful, strong mama eagle reduced to crawling her way out of the water.

[00:00:48]Today, a hopeful update from the Ojai Raptor Center where the bald eagle who rescue is believed is Jackie is being treated.

[00:00:55]>> The eagle arrived lethargic and underweight, but has no signs of physical trauma.

[00:01:00]>> A resident who captured this video says the eagle apparently got into a fight, likely over food or territory, with two juvenile eagles not far from the nest.

[00:01:08]>> She was very weak. Um her feather condition was very disheveled and um her she's very underweight.

[00:01:17]>> In their post, Friends of Big Bear Valley tell us Jackie is anemic with inflamed kidneys, but she's eating well, even picking up food on her own. But how could such a strong, grown-up eagle get compromised?

[00:01:28]>> There's some clues in here on if the mature eagle was compromised, if it was injured or if it was lead poisoned, for example, that could explain why it was unable to fly away.

[00:01:38]>> Dr. Todd Katzner is a prominent wildlife biologist with the US Geological Survey who specializes in eagle conservation.

[00:01:45]Rescuers are testing Jackie for levels of zinc, rodenticides, and lead. In his research, environmental toxins are a huge issue plaguing eagles.

[00:01:56]Rescuers say it could take weeks, maybe longer before we could see Jackie's return. The good news, Dr. Kester says eaglets Luna and Sandy are old enough to fly and fend for themselves with a little help from their dad Shadow. The Big Bear Eagle Cam gives us a peek into the story of Jackie and Shadow's resilience, love, and partnership.

[00:02:14]>> I think we should all be proud of birds like these and and remember that there are many tens or or hundreds or thousands in California that are doing the same thing off camera.

[00:02:27]>> Today there are more than 70,000 bald eagle nesting pairs in the US. They're thriving compared to the sparse populations we had in the 1960s. Just shows you how small human actions can make a huge difference. Dr. Kester says he doesn't use rodenticides in his home and his friends who hunt use non-lead ammunition. So there's something we can learn from this.

[00:02:46]>> Yeah, we are rooting for our girl Jackie, of course. How big a role do these environmental toxins play in the lives of bald eagles?

[00:02:52]>> Yeah, I learned so much today. Dr. Kester tells me about 50% of bald eagles and golden eagles uh test positive for exposure to lead. And but here in US it's from lead ammunition and it is not it's banned for hunting here in the in the California, but rodenticides that's more common. Tests say 80 to 90% of eagles test positive for that.

[00:03:12]>> And it used to be DDT that was killing them, making the eggshells weak, but then DDT was banned and then that's part of the reason they came back.

[00:03:19]>> Human action. That's what we've done.

[00:03:20]>> Denise the door. Thank you.