Wimbledon’s hawk was once stolen from a car, and it made global headlines

Rufus, the Harris’s hawk who has quietly protected Wimbledon’s grass courts for nearly two decades, has become something of a celebrity in his own right. Visitors often stop to photograph him, and many regular Wimbledon followers recognise him almost as readily as some of the tournament’s biggest stars.

His fame extends well beyond the Championships. In 2012, his disappearance after being stolen from his handler’s vehicle made international headlines before he was safely recovered.

Rufus first took to the skies above Wimbledon in 2008, continuing a bird-control programme that began years earlier. According to the Los Angeles Times, he flies every morning around 4 a.m. BST, before players begin practising and fans arrive, sweeping across the grounds to keep pigeons and other birds away from the courts.

He doesn’t chase or attack the birds; his presence alone is enough, since they instinctively recognise a Harris’s hawk as a natural predator. His handler, Donna Davis, says Rufus treats the grounds as ‘his playground’ and has become so familiar with the venue that patrolling it is now second nature to him.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Jules Verne Times Two