Nomi and Noa, Paris’s Official Mousers

French government spokesman Christophe Castaner brought in two cats to drive rodents out of an official residence near the Élysée Palace.

Appointed as official mousers, Nomi and Noa were named after Nominoë, Duke of Brittany.

Prime ministerial aide Jacqueline Gourault said various traps had previously been set to catch the rodents.

Because Paris is an old city built in the 19th century, sewers run beneath the city center, resulting in a large rat population. The Guardian estimated that 4 million rats live in Paris. With the city’s population at approximately 2.2 million, that works out to roughly two rats per person.

Georges Salines, head of Paris’s environmental health service, attributed the growing rodent population to regulations prohibiting the use of poison for rat control.

Pierre Falgayrac, an expert who has studied Paris’s sewers and rodent problem, said this was no surprise.

He added, “Rodents are not invaders or conquerors. Their living space is limited to about 20 square meters, and they spend 75% of their lives within that small area. Rats are not actually aggressive. We need to change the way we view them. Rats are gentle, peace-loving animals.”

A Paris City Hall spokesperson said, “Media coverage of rats and their appearance on the tourist-filled Champs-Élysées lead people to think there are enormous numbers of them. We have even closed parks because people were feeding the rats.”

In 2016, city officials launched measures to address the steadily growing rodent population. They temporarily closed five parks, redesigned trash cans, sealed off the sewer system, and urged residents not to feed pigeons.

A city official said, “The problem is that some people still scatter food for animals in parks. They are not doing it to feed rats, but to feed pigeons or stray cats. Either way, the rats eat the food too.”

The United Kingdom is already famous for having an official mouser guarding the prime minister’s residence on Downing Street. The French government also appears to have drawn inspiration from Larry, Britain’s official mouser.