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"
Come on, let's move on.
Slower !
Getting eleven free-roaming sheep to move along a very specific route cannot be improvised.
This Wednesday afternoon, at the La Beaujoire floral park, is the big day for Titeuf, Tricotte and their nine other comrades.
After spending two weeks in this green space located in the northeast district of the city of Nantes, the animals are expected at the Hippodrome du Petit Port where they will stay again for a week before leaving.
For four months, from March 15 and until July 11, they will thus move at regular intervals in the city of the Dukes, led by Déborah Biret, independent shepherdess, and eleven employees of the City.
If this equates to one person per sheep, the distribution differs in the field.
Equipped with a shepherd's staff, some are posted on the side to avoid dispersion, others bring up the rear, others are on bicycles as scouts.
You have to adapt to the steady pace of the sheep: it's not a healthy walk but rather a fitness walk.
Wednesday, March 29, the sheep have just left their enclosure located in the floral park of La Beaujoire.
LT/Le Figaro
“
Departure at 2:30 p.m. max!
», repeats several times the dynamic guide of the herd, who has already trained upstream with the team.
The sheep were also used to urban noise for several months.
The schedule is set to the minute, so as not to cross the tram-train.
Sometimes, when they are not along the river, the sheep have to take the road.
In this case, the municipal police are responsible for getting ahead of them.
Read also Pets: where does this French passion come from?
"Bringing the Animals to the City"
This project aims to "
bring animals into the city
", explains Séverine Figuls, municipal councilor in charge of animals in the city and
biodiversity trails, about this "
Transhu'Nantes
" in the words of the town hall, echoing the word “
transhumance
”.
All trips are made on foot and take about half a day.
This is a new experiment for the municipality, which sees several interests in it.
First, in terms of biodiversity, the sheep will graze: "
it's less aggressive than a mower
", explains Cécile Bir, deputy of the City of Nantes in charge of squares, parks and gardens.
Cows, pigs, goats are already grazing in parts of the city.
Regarding excreta, “
it brings fertilizer and makes the grass breathe
”.
Then, at the level of the inhabitants, "
it brings appeasement
", continues the elected official.
On the way, it is true that the faces light up.
The sheep, some of whose names were chosen by the people of Nantes when they were born a year ago, are real stars and are regularly photographed.
The aim is also to reach schoolchildren.
Usually, children discover wildlife through the Chantrerie educational farm.
There, a hundred classes will come to observe the bovids and learn more about shearing, in particular.
“
These are Belle Île sheep, a species with very low numbers, infrequent.
They are somewhat robust beasts
, ”explains Romaric Perrocheau, director of gardens and landscapes for the city.
The herd, which belongs to the city, will go through all the districts “
except Nantes Sud, because with the crossing of the Loire, it was far to leave
” he continues.
Entertainment will also be offered in the parks for families.
The route of the "Transhu'Nantes"
From March 15 to March 29: Parc floral de La BeaujoireFrom March 29 to April 5: Petit Port /Hippodrome (entertainment on Sunday April 2)From April 5 to 12: Arboretum Cimetière Parc (entertainment on Sunday April 9)From April 12 to April 3 May: Parc de la Gaudinière (entertainment from April 17 to 21, 23 to 28) From May 3 to 17: Parc de Procé (entertainment on May 6, 10, 13 and 14) From May 17 to 31: Parc des Oblates ( events on May 21 and 24) From May 31 to June 14: Château des Ducs de Bretagne (entertainment on June 3, 7 and 11 in the moat) From June 14 to 27: Parc de la Roche (entertainment on June 18 and 21) From June 28 to July 11: Parc du Grand Blottereau (entertainment on July 1, 5 and 9)
In an ecological logic, the fences that frame the sheep were made from window sill wood recycled by the company 100 Détours.
Removable and transportable from one place to another, they are accompanied by a playful and explanatory giant comic book imagined by the author Pauline Hébert.
Once their turn is over, the sheep will return to their usual home, at the Chantrerie farm, before perhaps setting off again to meet the people of Nantes.
And why not even one day invest in the green playgrounds of the students.
In Lyon, a city run by ecologist Grégory Doucet, a transhumance was also organized last September.
For three days and two nights, 30 sheep traveled 24 kilometers in the metropolis.
In 2019, a similar project was implemented in Greater Paris.
Déborah Biret, shepherdess, among the sheep.
LT/Le Figaro
The herd is made up of females and their young born last year.
LT/
Fences and observatories made from recycled wood.
LT/Le Figaro