Can humans and mice coexist? Paris tries to find out

PARIS (CNN) — Can humans and mice coexist? That’s what Paris city leaders are trying to figure out. The French capital, like many metropolises, has a serious rodent problem.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is creating a team to study “coexistence” — and the extent to which humans and rodents can live together — one of her representatives told a city council meeting Thursday.

Anne Souyris, the deputy mayor of Paris responsible for public health, announced the move in response to questions from Geoffroy Boulard, president of Paris’ 17th arrondissement and a member of the center-right Republican Party.

Poulard asked the city government to outline an ambitious plan to combat rat infestation in public spaces.

Hidalgo, a member of the center-left Socialist Party, has previously criticized Paris for not doing enough to rid it of rats, including during strikes earlier this year that littered the city.

“The presence of rats on the surface is detrimental to the quality of life of Parisians,” Poulard said.

Poulard said he questioned himself after coming across an ongoing study. Plan Armageddon. The aim of the project is to help manage the city’s rat population, and one of its goals is to combat anti-rat prejudice so that Parisians can live better with them.

The study is funded by the French government, although the city of Paris is a partner in the project.

Soiris explained that the extent to which humans and mice can live together “is very efficient and at the same time unbearable for the Parisians.”

While rats can spread disease, the rats in question are not the same black rats that carry the plague, but other types of rats that carry diseases such as the bacterial disease leptospirosis, the deputy mayor said. Souyris also highlighted some of the measures the city has taken as part of its 2017 anti-rat program, including investing in thousands of new trash cans to “drive rats back underground.”

souyris He later said on Twitter Paris rats do not pose a “significant” risk to public health. He said he would ask the French High Council for Public Health to intervene in the debate.

“We need scientific advice, not political press releases,” he said.

Animal rights group Paris Animaux Zoopolis welcomed the city’s move.

“Rats are present in Paris in all major French cities, so the question of coexistence necessarily arises,” the group’s statement said.

“At PAZ, when we talk about “peaceful coexistence” with rats, we don’t mean living with them in our houses and apartments, but to ensure that these animals are not harmed and that they do not disturb us. Again, a very reasonable goal!

CNN has asked officials in Paris for more details on the plans.