California wildlife officials announced Wednesday that bird flu led to the death of the famous livestreamed bald eagle Jackie.
The investigation into her Aug. 9 death found that bird flu caused the sepsis that ultimately killed her, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a release.
“In an uncommon presentation of the virus, the infection caused a severe ulcer in her stomach that led to persistent internal bleeding, anemia, and the development of bacterial sepsis,” San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Director of Disease Investigations Steve Kubiski said.
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The group, along with the Ojai Raptor Center, worked with California wildlife officials on Jackie’s necropsy.
Jackie’s mate, Shadow, and the eaglets the two birds shared, which also appeared on the livestream from the Big Bear Valley area of San Bernardino National Forest, are not thought to have contracted the disease from the matriarch, state wildlife officials said. Jackie was born in the area in 2012, the first eaglet to hatch there.
To prevent the further spread of bird flu, Jackie’s remains were cremated following the necropsy, state wildlife officials said.
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