RUSSIA- At the age of 84, the international intrigue alligator, Saturn has died at the Moscow Zoo. Based on studies, the normal life span of an alligator living in the wild is 30 to 50 years, but Saturn is unusual.
Aside from longevity, there are more unusual factors on Saturn's biography.
Born in the wild of Mississippi area in 1936, Saturn was shipped to the Berlin Zoo wherein he vanished on November 23, 1943, in the aftermath of an air bombing in Berlin by Allied forces.
According to the reports by ABC News, during that time, all of the crocodiles and alligators in captivity were killed after the zoo's aquarium was directly struck by a bomb.
The Berlin Zoo once kept 16,000 animals in their facility, but an estimated lower than 100 animals survived the explosions caused by war, and Saturn was among them.
When the explosion gave him freedom in 1943, at that time, Saturn was in his adolescence, at an age of 7 years old. And after two years and a half, in June of 1946, a matured Saturn was located and captured by the British occupation forces, however, Saturn's custody was handed over to the allied Soviet troops in Berlin after WWII who then sent the alligator to Moscow wherein he lived the next 74 years of his life.
Moreover, when he landed in Moscow, it was the start of the spread of the rumors that Saturn was a part of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pet menagerie.
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The rumored connection gave the 11.5-foot alligator a celebrity status however officials from the zoo acquitted him of any political responsibility.
Moreover, Chicago Tribune reported that the zoo's announcement of Saturn's death asserts that even he is owned by someone, no animal is involved in politics and war, they also emphasized that it is absurd to blame animals for human sins.
Moscow Zoo's officials did not show any culpability to the alligator as they treated him as a guest of honor.
They also recalled memories with the alligator, wherein they shared that Saturn was choosy about food, he loves a massage, if he does not like something he shows it, and he even knew whom he liked among his keepers.
According to DW, the officials also shared that they treated Saturn, the venerable alligator with the utmost attention and care because for them if an animal can be a historical figure, Saturn for sure qualifies.
One of the officials even sighted Saturn as a whole era for them, as the alligator came after the victory in WWII and met its 75th anniversary. He also pointed out that Saturn saw many of them as children and he hopes that they did not disappoint him.
The death of the venerable alligator Saturn does not end his public career, as based on the reports his remains will be preserved and placed at the Charles Darwin Museum of Biology in Moscow as part of an exhibit. In the museum, the controversial alligator who lived long and has intrigued many will not only be preserved but so are his memories and contribution to history.
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