Wimbledon succession crisis looms after Rufus the hawk fails to breed

Telegraph

06-07-2025

For 17 years, the grounds of Wimbledon have been kept pigeon-free by Rufus the hawk.
The raptor is so effective at patrolling SW19's skies, that bosses at the championships want his descendants to eventually replace him.
But a so-called 'succession plan' is in doubt after its handler revealed Rufus had no offspring and had recently failed to breed.
Donna Davis, who has overseen Rufus's near two-decade reign over Centre Court, said the hawk had not taken a liking to Pamela, its mate-to-be.
The 58-year-old falconer said: 'They didn't hit it off. Pamela was quite aggressive. It wasn't love at first sight. But maybe we can try breeding with him again in the future.'
This is not the birds first failed mating attempted, prompted questions over his sexuality.
Asked whether Rufus might be gay, she said: 'There's every possibility. I don't think it's that unusual [among birds].'
Earlier this week, it was reported Scampi and Flounder, a pair of male penguins, raised a chick that had been rejected by its parents at Chester Zoo.
The bird of prey, whose services are also employed at Westminster Abbey, the Old Bailey and Lord's cricket ground, was raised in Brigstock, Northamptonshire, and has been working at Wimbledon since he was 16 weeks old.
His reconnaissance of the grounds begins at around 5am and finishes at 9am. He starts sweeping the outside courts and Court 1 before flying into Centre Court.
Ms Davis said hawks' reversed size dimorphism – where females are bigger than males – means Rufus is better-suited to getting into the nooks and crannies of courts to scare away all the pigeons.
'Initially the whole reason we were here was because [Pete] Sampras was having to bat pigeons off the baseline,' she said. 'I was thinking, I'm going to have to give them a call and help them out.'
Ms Davis said pigeon numbers can potentially be problematic because they breed all year-round and can do so from the age of just 12 weeks.
She joked that she can no longer enjoy watching tennis during the championships, for fear of seeing a pigeon making a guest appearance.
'You'll always get somebody saying 'oh my god Rufus is not doing his job,' she said. 'They think he's going to annihilate anything on sight.'
Ms Davis, who has been handling birds since she was 15 as a keen birdwatcher and loves tennis, said her teenage self would think she had 'hit the jackpot' with her current job.
'That's what it feels like when you combine your two loves together,' she said.
'There's such a bonanza of wildlife around, so I'm able to combine my love of ornithology with tennis in the most pristine of grounds.'
She lauded the return of the 'ancient art' of falconry, having briefly been replaced by guns.
'It's come back as the most natural deterrent,' she added.
On Rufus' personality, she said: 'You can't be anthropomorphic about it but I believe he sees me as one of his pack.
'I'm his food source, so of course I'm one of his pack. I do feel as though in areas where we've been out in fields and crows have bombarded me, he's come in to get the crows.
'So he is very protective of me but that's because I'm his food source, not because he loves me.'