In the tunnel located under the Recyclerie, the third place of the Porte de Clignancourt (18th century), a few pigeons gather, as if they were watching for the return of their peers.
Except that the latter are trapped on the metal beams of the tunnel.
On the rails of the old 18th century Petite Ceinture under construction, nets retain the birds in spite of themselves.
The City of Paris installed these nets at the end of January to prevent birds from settling in and depositing their droppings on visitors to this tunnel, which should soon reopen to the population.
The fact remains that for the moment, some pigeons are still passing through and getting stuck behind the mesh without being able to get out.
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“We can hear these poor animals dying,” says Farah, local resident and president of the Save the Gardens of the Creek collective, with video and photos of squab corpses.
Accompanied by Didier Lapostre, president of the Association spaces for meetings between men and birds (Aerho), she hopes to convince the municipality to remove this deadly net for avian fauna.
For several years, Aerho has advised municipalities on what to do to contain urban pigeon populations.
At Porte de Clignancourt, she recommended installing metal mesh and not nets, “which stretch and develop holes over time,” explains Didier Lapostre.
Enough to let the poor birds pass, on which the trap then closes.
Protect walkers from droppings
According to Farah, pigeons aren't the only ones caught in the nets.
“There are also bats, a protected species,” adds the association representative.
Information contradicted by the City's green spaces and environment department, in an email that “Le Parisien” was able to consult.
“Following the double visit of the urban ecology agency, on this section of the Petite Ceinture du XVIII, no colony of chiroptera (bats) was noted,” says the administration.
She adds that while nocturnal mammals use the tunnel in search of insects, there is no indication that they hibernate there.
Still according to this email, “the net was deployed between January 22 and 25 with a view to opening to the public” the underside of the bridge.
The idea?
“Protect – from droppings – walkers walking under the tunnel vaults”.
Since 2006, with the SNCF, the City of Paris has been rehabilitating the Petite Ceinture - where after decades of abandonment nature had reclaimed its rights - to make it a place for walks.