BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — Bird flu caused the death of a bald eagle named Jackie who had become an internet sensation and a symbol of the species' recovery in California, officials said.
A necropsy and additional testing found that the primary underlying cause of Jackie's death in August was highly pathogenic avian influenza, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Wednesday in a news release.
In the weeks before she died, Jackie was being treated at the Ojai Raptor Center for various ailments, including anemia. Chris Eksteen, the center's director, said in the news release that the necropsy results “have helped connect many of the findings” they saw during her hospitalization.
“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," Steve Kubiski, the disease investigations director at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, where the necropsy was conducted, said in the news release.
For more than a decade, nature lovers watched via an online video feed as Jackie and her partner, Shadow, tended to their nest each year atop trees near Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles. There's no evidence Shadow is ill, according to the news release.
The nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley installed the nest camera in 2015 and documented the successes and failures of each breeding season.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been circulating in bird populations throughout the U.S. While waterfowl and shorebirds are natural hosts for bird flu viruses, eagles and other raptors can be exposed through contact with infected birds or by eating them, according to the news release.
Jackie's remains were cremated to prevent transmission of the virus, it said.
American bald eagles teetered on the brink of extinction until the pesticide DDT was banned in the 1970s and other protections were established, leading the species to rebound and be removed from the federal endangered list.
FILE - Jackie the bald eagle is examined on July 18, 2026, at the Los Angeles County Parks San Dimas Raptor Rescue Center in San Dimas, Calif. (Los Angeles County Parks San Dimas Raptor Rescue Center via AP, File)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tens of thousands of people in California were without electricity Thursday as utilities tried to reduce the risks of hot, windy weather that could blow over power lines and spark wildfires.
In Northern California, nearly 62,000 customers in 26 counties in the Sierra Nevada foothills, wine country and the central coast had no electricity, according to Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which began proactively turning off power Wednesday night. An additional 19,000 customers in Los Angeles, Kern and Ventura counties lost power Thursday, Southern California Edison said. Weather conditions that increase the fire risk were expected to last through Saturday.
Some of California’s worst wildfires have been sparked by power equipment, and utilities in recent years have begun proactively shutting off power during dry, windy weather in an effort to prevent blazes.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who faced criticism for her city's response to deadly fires in 2025, said she's directed the fire department to deploy personnel and equipment ahead of the winds. The fire department has also requested assistance from the state’s office of emergency services, she said.
“It’s a pretty widespread event of elevated fire weather, so the whole SoCal region should really be on alert,” said Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Dry, warm and gusty northeast winds known as Santa Anas, which blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore, are expected, with the strongest winds forecast for Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon.
The winds could reach 20 to 40 mph (32 to 64 kph), with gusts from 50 to 70 mph (80 to 113 kph), in the San Gabriel mountains in Los Angeles County and the Santa Susana mountains, which are mostly in Ventura County, Schoenfeld said. Elevated, though brief, critical fire weather conditions are also forecast for portions of the Santa Lucia mountains in San Luis Obispo County.
Dangerous conditions began earlier in Northern California, with some communities in the Sierra Nevada and its foothills experiencing strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity starting Wednesday night, the National Weather Service said.
The service issued a Red Flag Warning for parts of central and Northern California starting Thursday and lasting through Friday morning, saying any fires would spread rapidly. Such warnings are issued when weather conditions create an increased risk of wildfires.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company said Thursday it has notified 90,000 customers in 29 counties that they may lose power.
The potential interruption in service to customers from the Central Coast to the upper corners of the Sierra Nevada could last through Saturday afternoon, the company said.
In Southern California, the Red Flag Warning for the mountainous areas in Ventura and Los Angeles counties will be in effect from Thursday morning through Friday night.
“We are augmenting our staffing, positioning our people and pre-deploying equipment ahead of this weather so we are ready before the first call comes in,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Jaime Moore said. “We are asking residents to do their part, too. Clear the streets, have a plan and stay informed.”
In January 2025, the Palisades Fire — fanned by Santa Ana winds — ripped through a hillside Los Angeles neighborhood, killing 12 people and destroying mansions with spectacular ocean views. Authorities determined the Palisades Fire was a carryover from another fire that authorities alleged was caused by a person setting off fireworks.
Another fire that burned at the same time in the city of Altadena, in Los Angeles County, killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 homes and businesses. That fire was caused by sparks from an idle transmission tower owned by Southern California Edison, officials said.
Schoenfeld said the Santa Ana winds are not going to be as strong as during those fires, when they were gusting 60 to 100 mph (96 to 160 kph).
Southern California Edison is considering public safety shutoffs that could affect 245,000 customers, with most of them — 124,000 — in Ventura County, just north of Los Angeles.
FILE - Residences leveled by a wildfire in Paradise, Calif., are seen on Nov. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
FILE - Water is dropped by helicopter on the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File)
FILE - The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File)
FILE - Flags fly under heavy winds before sunset as a plume of smoke from the Franklin Fire rises over the ocean Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)
