If the sewers of Paris are used to meeting rats when they descend in the meanders of the capital, on March 7, 1984 their discovery is very different since they are in front of a crocodile !

A surprising discovery

On March 7, 1984, the sewer services called the fire brigade: a suspicious animal was seen under the rue du Pont-Neuf . Dispatched to the scene, the firefighters captured a creature nearly 80 cm long, which they led to the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes . After examination, the menagerie vet concludes that it is a Nile crocodile. If we still do not know how Éléonore ended up in the sewers of Paris in the spring of 1984, her survival in this urban environment does not surprise veterinarians: the temperature is relatively high and the food abundant with the presence of rats in particular. They estimate that the female crocodile was able to live there for one to two months without any problem before being spotted.

A crocodile named Eleanor

Baptized Éléonore, the female was subsequently transferred to the Vannes aquarium (Morbihan) where she was installed in a replica of a Parisian sewer. The reptile finally left Brittany to join the crocodile farm in Pierrelatte (Drôme). Last May, Éléonore passed away. It then measured more than 4 meters long for nearly 200 kilos.