A glorious lineage, or an expensive disaster? Paris is at war over 300 wild rabbits | Agn?s Poirier

The animals that inspired Rodin and fed the French resistance may soon be banished from Les Invalides - but not if protesters have anything to do with itParis is the theatre of many battles, but none has been more burlesque than the fight to save or annihilate - according to which side of the argument you belong - the wild rabbits living in the shadow of Napoleon's tomb. Three hundred or so of these furry friends, or fiends, have been digging thousands of tunnels underneath the manicured lawn of the Esplanade des Invalides, ruining the 16-hectare (40-acre) site overseen by the French military.Gnawing on electrical cables and garden hoses, they have transformed the grass plot into gruy?re, as well as leaving behind tons of their signature round droppings. The military personnel must be feeling their skills are wasted, spending precious hours each day, as they now must do, collecting rabbit caca. Continue reading...