Alligator that survived WWII bombing dies at 84

An alligator that survived a bombing raid on the Berlin zoo in 1943 and found itself east of the Iron Curtain after World War II has died of old age at 84, the Moscow Zoo said. Saturn's death marked the "end of an era", the zoo said in a statement last Saturday, and 84 was "a respectable age" for a Mississippi alligator, a species that rarely makes it past 50 in the wild. Born in the US in 1936, Saturn was moved to the Berlin zoo, where it escaped on Nov 23, 1943, after a bombing raid that killed several of its fellow reptiles. In 1946, it was found by British soldiers who handed it over to the Soviet authorities, amid rumours that it had been part of Adolf Hitler's personal collection. Keeping Saturn was an "honour... and a great joy", the zoo said.