The Champions League final on Saturday May 28 between Liverpool and Real Madrid will have definitely tarnished the image of the Parisian capital. The scenes of violence, the ticket fiasco and the ensuing controversy went around the world.
As if that were not enough, a rat had the bad idea to invite itself into the field of the camera during a live broadcast of a Spanish television channel at the foot of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. On set, the opportunity was too good for the journalists who overplayed the dread: big audience and bad buzz for Paris stuck in a ratatouille of criticism.
If the journalists of the El Chiringuito channel were shocked by this evening visitor, the Parisians are no longer surprised to come across rats in the street. Professionals estimate that around 6 million rats swarm in and under Paris, or 1.75 rats per inhabitant.
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Paris and Marseille in the world’s Top 10 cities invaded by rats
The subject was debated on Monday May 30 on the set of the program « Touche pas à mon Poste » on C8. Cyril Hanouna and his team have unveiled the ranking of the 10 cities in the world most colonized by rats. Not really enough to restore the image of France which places two cities – Paris and Marseille – in this less than stellar ranking.
With an estimated population of 1.5 million rats, Marseille occupies 10th place in the « prize list ». Then follow Atlanta (USA), Johannesburg (South Africa), Guangzhou (China) and Hamelin (Germany). Fifth place is occupied by Singapore, Paris is fourth and therefore narrowly misses the podium made up of New York (3rd), London (2nd) and Deshnoke in India (1st).
Why are rats proliferating in Paris and Marseille?
If rats proliferate in Paris and Marseilles, it is because they find there all the conditions necessary for their development. However, in a favorable environment these rodents reproduce at an exponential rate.
This video shot in 2018 by a garbage collector from the capital, illustrates the extent of the presence of the rat in Paris.
In Paris, rats don’t even need to hide anymore. « There is a whole generation of rats who have never known the sewers and who live in parks and gardens »,
explained in the columns of Parisian, Amandine Sanvisens, co-founder of the animal protection association Zoopolis.
“Access to food is the central problem. Rather than using the anticoagulant (rat poison) to kill the rodents, it would be better to regulate the reproduction of the rats. Unsanitary conditions also play an important role, so housing renovation is the other major issue. » she adds.
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The very relative effectiveness of deratting
Since 2017, the city of Paris has had an annual budget of 1.5 million euros to fight against this scourge, but without conclusive success so far. A project called « Armaguedon » was launched in 2021. Its objective: to collect as much information as possible on rats, to get to know them better and ultimately to stem the growth of their population.
The city of Marseille, for its part, is increasing its rat extermination campaigns. With the key, very mixed results. « For a few years, we no longer have the right to use very harmful products. And since they are less harmful, they are less effective »confided to France 3, Pierre-Marie Ganozzi, deputy mayor in charge of schools.
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