Rats are winning the battle against cities. So Paris is starting to look at cohabitation instead.

• Paris wants to know how bad the rat problem can get before it's truly unbearable. 
• The city is studying cohabitation between rats and humans. 
• Rats have been a problem in Paris since labor strikes left garbage piled in the streets.

If you've lived in a major city, chances are you've had your share of unbearable roommates.

In Paris, the problem of unbearable roommates — in the form of rats — has become both a health problem and a political problem.

So the city is putting together a committee to study how to address the issue, and one of the questions is simply: Can rats and humans just accept each other and cohabitate? 

—Anne Souyris (@annesouyris) June 9, 2023

The effort, aptly dubbed Projet Armaguedon — or Project Armageddon — is aimed at managing the city's rat population while also attempting to fight prejudice gainst rats so that locals can better live alongside the rodents, according to CNN.

Paris, like New York and many other major cities, has seen an uptick in problems with rats in recent years. New Yorkers have watched rats storm the streets in hordes since the COVID-19 pandemic. In Paris, the problem grew worse after nationwide strikes in opposition to an increase in the country's retirement age led to garbage piling up on the streets.

At one point, Paris rat catchers started hurling dead rodents at city hall to demonstrate the importance of their roles, the Independent reported at the time.