Imminent opening of a “LapiParc”. A place dedicated to rabbits and guinea pigs in the Normandy capital, the city of Rouen.
A 70 square meter park will be dedicated to rabbits
In the heart of the Saint-Sever garden in Rouen, a park dedicated to rabbits and small rodents will open Tuesday July 2 according to local media Paris-Normandie. As part of the participatory budget, citizens chose to create a place dedicated to rabbits and small rodents, guinea pigs.
A large space of 70 square meters is provided to accommodate animals. Facilities designed by children with disabilities from the Rouen de Canteleu Medical-Educational Institute, also known as “the song of the wolf” were planned for the project.
Please note that for the well-being of rodents and rabbits, dogs will not be allowed in these dedicated spaces.
A project to welcome the general public and exchanges
Justine Andricq, the initiator of the project, told the local newspaper Paris-Normandie that she hopes this program will be “an intergenerational meeting place”.
In the future, she would also like to create activities that would be organized around animals, particularly with the presence of veterinarians.
Justine has several rabbits and is an animal lover, she completely imagined and created this project. On the social network Facebook, a group was created “Bunny meetings in Rouen” so that rabbit owners can meet. She explains that she has been contacted by around a hundred rabbit owners since the launch of the project.
This initiative is also good news for the municipality which, according to Frédéric Marchand, the deputy mayor in charge of the left bank sector, is a space “ conducive to living together and animal well-being ” he declared to Paris-Normandie.
Finally, the “LapiParc” has PMR access (people with reduced mobility) so that people in wheelchairs can access it.
The rabbit, a “child-friendly” animal
Along with chickens, domestic rabbits are the most popular garden animals among the French according to Animals magazine.
This very affectionate animal is not difficult to live with. It is a small mammal of the leporid species, which is not considered a rodent. In France, it is as appreciated and adopted as cats or dogs.
There are several subspecies of rabbits, the vast majority of which are distinguished by their weight, which can reach 10 kg for a Flanders rabbit for example.
Its ease of living means that it is regularly adopted but unfortunately many abandoned. According to the SPA, all the rabbits we know today are descended from the wild rabbit, which arrived more than a million years ago in Northern Europe.
Finally, the people of Rouen who own rabbits view this project very favorably; it is an opportunity for them to bring their animals and learn more about them.
The inauguration of the park is scheduled for Tuesday, July 2, 2024 at 4:45 p.m. where professionals from the Callna veterinary clinic will welcome the first arrivals.
Source : SPA, Paris Normandie
