Nature lovers were saddened last weekend when a baby eagle died on a live webcam capturing footage from a nest in coastal Maine.
Despite public protest, wildlife officials let nature take its course for the unfortunate eaglet, the Associated Press reported.
"The nest cam is more of a mirror to reflect what's going on with all eagle nests. It's not to be used as a baby monitor to intervene when we see something that makes us feel sad as humans," said Erynn Call, a raptor specialist with the state of Maine, as quoted by the AP.
The state of Maine has around 600 eagle nests, and it's common for many of the eaglets not to survive to maturity, Call said.
Minnesota officials weren't so hands-off last month when they tried to intervene for a baby eagle struggling with a broken wing. But overall, experts say that interfering with nature is an overstep.
"The general view is not to intervene," said Patrick Keenan from the Biodiversity Research Institute in Maine, as quoted by the AP. "These are wildlife. They're not pets."
The eaglet in Minnesota had to be euthanized in spite of officials' attempts to save it. For the Maine nest, the baby eagle died after apparently being abandoned by its parents.
Viewers often want to intervene when they see cuddly animals or a lone animal in trouble. But their empathy can extend to groups of dangerous animals as well.
"Every year, we show polar bears that are starving while waiting for the ice to freeze. People are like, 'Feed the bears!' No, we're not going to feed the bears," said Jason Damata of explore.org, a media resource with about 50 wildlife webcams capturing nature at any moment.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
