In Paris, rabbits now have the right to roam free with the Invalides

They were on probation for nine months, but that’s it, they’re free. The dozens of rabbits that have taken up residence on the lawn of the Invalides, in Paris, are now untouchable, police headquarters announced on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. She had classified it as “harmful”, but the decision was reconsidered, under pressure from animal associations. A victory for these small mammals who asked nothing of anyone.

For several years now, a colony of Garenne rabbits has been frolicking on the lawn of the military site, classified as a historic monument. And if their presence enraptures tourists or Sunday walkers, it quickly irritates the military. Holes in the lawn, excavating galleries, nibbling electricity cables… The soldiers quantified the damage “up to 15,000 euros” per year for “an area of ​​5 square kilometers destroyed”, reports The Phasrisk

The many rabbits that have taken up residence on the lawns of the Invalides, in Paris, are now untouchable. While seeking to classify these small mammals as pests, Police Headquarters announced on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, that they were allowed to roam freely.

Re the Parisian

Forced cohabitation with the army

What causes the annoyance of the military, who have to live with the rabbits. The latter can “keep poking and damaging the lawns, digging galleries and nibbling on the cables and garden hoses”, one of them grumbles, quoted by our colleagues. According to the military, the cost of damage caused by mammals is “up to €15,000” per year for “an area of ​​5 km² destroyed”

Paris Animals Zoopolis (PAZ), the Parisian association that asked soldiers to “quiet life with rabbits”welcomed this decision. “The prefect’s decision to withdraw the decree shows that our legal action was justified”, said the co-founder of PAZ in the columns of the daily Ile-de-France. In July 2021, a prefectural decree classified rabbits as pests. The soldiers were therefore authorized to: “regulate”

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