World War II Berlin bombing survivor Saturn the alligator dies in Moscow Zoo

Saturn, the alligator, who survived the Berlin bombing during World War II died in Moscow Zoo on Saturday. Saturn was 84 years old and died of old age-related problems, Moscow Zoo officials informed.

The zoo authority officially announced the death of the alligator and said "Yesterday morning, our Mississippi alligator Saturn died of old age. He was about 84 years old - an extremely respectable age".

Saturn was gifted to Berlin Zoo in 1936 soon after he was born in the US. The alligator had escaped the zoo as it was being bombed during the peak of the World War in 1943. As per reports, British soldiers found him three years later and had handed him over to the Soviet Union. Saturn was lucky to have escaped the war zone as a large number of animals present in the zoo at that time perished. Since July 1946, the alligator had been a star showman at the Moscow Zoo.

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"Moscow Zoo has had the honour of keeping Saturn for 74 years, he saw many of us when we were children. We hope that we did not disappoint him", the zoo authority said in its tweet.

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When Saturn was found and handed over to the Moscow Zoo, the alligator was rumored to have been a part of Adolf Hitler's personal collection. The Moscow zoo officials had later dismissed the rumours and had said that animals do not belong to politics and mustn't be held responsible for human sins.

As per reports, Saturn will now be stuffed and exhibited in Moscow's popular museum of biology named after Charles Darwin.

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