Roman authorities have come up with an , err , interesting solvent to the problem of overgrown grass in the city ’s parks – they plan to introduce sheep .
Years of budget shortages have taken their cost on Rome ’s parks and gardens . Some space are so omit that pasturage reaches chest height and benches are buried in botany .
So Mayor Virginia Raggi , of controversial populist political party the Five Star Movement , has come up with an innovative “ solution ” to secure the trouble : bird in natural grazers ( i.e. sheep and goats ) from the surrounding countryside to crunch on the metropolis ’s overgrown lawn . The proposal was revealed in a Facebook video posted by city environmental official Pinuccia Montanari .
Perhaps unsurprisingly , the trace has been on the receiving end of some serious mocking by the company ’s opponents .
“ Goodbye to gardeners and lawnmowers ! ” say Enzo Foschi , a popular party councilor for the Lazio area , reportsThe Guardian . “ They ’ve already replaced rubbish collectors with seagull and now this . What will Raggi do during the summertime time of year to get disembarrass of mosquitoes – ply geckoes ? ”
And Massimo Proetti Rocchi , Friends of Leopardi Park president , wanted to have it away what would be done about the sheep ’s feces .
The annunciation has also raise some eyebrows on Twitter , with one user equate the papistic commons to the Amazon rainforest .
Some suggested employ other creature for more government services – elephant firefighters , anyone ?
And others have betoken out the green goddess might be too longsighted for sheep . The Mayor may need to consider shipping in Giraffa camelopardalis and camels instead .
But the idea of using locoweed - chomping brute to tame city parks is n’t quite as out - there as it might seem at first . Raggi ’s suggestion was inspired byparks in Berlinand the Italian metropolis ofTurin , which introduce 700 sheep to graze on the city ’s two parks back in 2008 .
Parisian authorities also act out a similar insurance , introduce a herd of shaggy-coated dim sheep to supervene upon its lawnmowers in 2013 in a bid to make France ’s capital a greener urban center . They call the policy“eco - grazing ” .
In fact , using browse brute to maintain and fertilizecommon spacesis a practice that live back thousands of years , though this is Rome and not a village super acid . We do n’t even want to imagine about the odor .
