View source for Unsolved:Saturn (alligator)

{{short description|American alligator residing in the Moscow Zoo (1936–2020)}}
{{Infobox animal
|name                      = Saturn
|image                     = Alligator mississippiensis.jpg
|caption                   = An American alligator at the Moscow Zoo, Possibly Saturn
|hatch_name                =
|othername                 = Hitler
|species                   = ''[[Biology:American alligator|Alligator mississippiensis]]''<br />(American alligator)
|gender                    = Male
|hatch_date                = 1936 Mississippi U.S.
|death_date                = {{death date and age|2020|5|22|1936}}
|death_place               = [[Place:Moscow|Moscow]], Russia
|resting_place             =<!-- Insert "State Darwin Museum" after Saturn is stuffed and put on display there. -->
|resting_place_coordinates =<!-- Insert State Darwin Museum's coordinates after Saturn is stuffed and put on display there. -->
|occupation                =
|employer                  =
|years_active              =
|known                     = One of the longest-lived alligators in captivity<br>Rumored to have been Adolf Hitler's pet
|owner                     =
|residence                 = Moscow Zoo<br />''prev.'' Berlin Zoological Garden
|weight                    =<!-- Should include the date of measurement. -->
|height                    =<!-- Should include the date of measurement. -->
|appearance                =
|namedafter                = [[Astronomy:Saturn|Saturn]]<br />''prev.'' Adolf Hitler
}}

'''Saturn''' ({{lang-rus|Сату́рн|p=sɐˈturn}}; 1936{{spnd}}22 May 2020) was an [[Biology:American alligator|American alligator]] residing in the Moscow Zoo. He was the subject of an [[Social:Urban legend|urban myth]] that he was previously Adolf Hitler's "pet alligator".

After hatching in Mississippi, Saturn was brought to [[Place:Nazi Germany|Nazi Germany]], residing at the Berlin Zoological Garden. It was here that his association with Adolf Hitler originated, as Hitler reportedly enjoyed visiting the zoo and especially liked the alligator. However, while Hitler may have viewed Saturn at the zoo, he was never Hitler's personal pet. During [[Social:World War II|World War II]], the Berlin Zoo was destroyed, but Saturn was discovered by British soldiers three years later. The British then gave the alligator to the Soviets in 1946. He lived at the Moscow Zoo until 22 May 2020, when he died of old age.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.interfax.ru/moscow/709979|title=В московском зоопарке умер аллигатор, якобы принадлежавший Гитлеру (in Russian) (In the Moscow zoo, an alligator died, allegedly belonging to Hitler)|access-date=23 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52784240|title=Berlin WW2 bombing survivor Saturn the alligator dies in Moscow Zoo|date=23 May 2020|work=BBC News|access-date=23 May 2020}}</ref>

== Physical description ==
Saturn was described as having been 2<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/RUSSIA-MOSCOW-ZOO-ALLIGATOR/a7b1d311f06766cef490b9b113577f97?query=berlin+wall&current=15&orderBy=Relevance&hits=29&referrer=search&search=/search?query=berlin%2520wall&allFilters=Lifestyle:Subject,APTN:Source&allFilters=Lifestyle:Subject,APTN:Source&productType=IncludedProducts&page=1&b=577f97|title=RUSSIA: MOSCOW ZOO: ALLIGATOR {{!}} AP Archive|date=24 December 2000|website=www.aparchive.com|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> to 3.5<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=http://www.stern.de/panorama/wissen/natur/kriegsbeute-saturn-kinder-duerfen-ihn-auch-schon-mal-piesacken-3294264.html|title=Kinder dürfen ihn auch schon mal piesacken|last=Albes|first=Andreas|date=9 May 2005|work=stern.de|access-date=27 February 2017|language=de-DE|trans-title=Children may even peck him}}</ref> meters long, and weighed 200 kilograms (441 pounds).<ref name=":0" /> Like most alligators, he had green scales, a broad mouth, and yellow eyes.<ref name=":1" />

== Berlin Zoological Garden ==
Saturn was hatched in the wild in the U.S. state of Mississippi in 1936.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> He was captured that year and was shipped to [[Place:Berlin|Berlin]], where he was brought to the Berlin Zoological Garden.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.moscowzoo.ru/about-zoo/articles/stati-o-zhivotnykh/boris-akunin-saturn-pochti-ne-viden/|title=Борис Акунин "Сатурн почти не виден"|last=Akunin|first=Boris|website=www.moscowzoo.ru|trans-title=Saturn is almost invisible|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219122840/http://moscowzoo.ru/about-zoo/articles/stati-o-zhivotnykh/boris-akunin-saturn-pochti-ne-viden/|archive-date=19 February 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> It was from this period that the popular rumor emerged that Saturn was Adolf Hitler's "pet".<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=http://www.nearlyfirst.com/2015/07/28/hitlers-pet-alligator-is-85-and-living-in-moscow/|title=Hitler's pet alligator is 85 and living in Moscow – Nearly First|date=5 March 2016|work=archive.is|access-date=27 February 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160305073521/http://www.nearlyfirst.com/2015/07/28/hitlers-pet-alligator-is-85-and-living-in-moscow/|archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> This may have originated with the author [[Biography:Boris Akunin|Boris Akunin]], a Russian writer who hypothesized in an article that this may have been the case.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=http://rusversion.info/society/238-alligator-from-the-moscow-zoo-were-suspected-of-having-links-with-hitl.html|title=Alligator from the Moscow zoo were suspected of having links with Hitler|access-date=27 February 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303050043/http://rusversion.info/society/238-alligator-from-the-moscow-zoo-were-suspected-of-having-links-with-hitl.html|archive-date=3 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://naewu.com/assets/pdf/news/advertising-and-pr-campaign-of-the-moscow-zoo-1.pdf|title=Advertising and PR-campaign of the Moscow Zoo|website=Naewu.com|access-date=26 February 2017}}{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In actuality, he was not Hitler's personal pet, as he was on public display at the zoo.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite news|url=http://rbth.com/arts/2017/02/22/legends-of-the-moscow-zoo-reptilian-rumors-and-killer-crocs_707748|title=Legends of the Moscow Zoo: Reptilian rumors and killer crocs|last=Levkovich|first=Yevgeny|date=24 February 2017|work=Russia Beyond The Headlines|access-date=27 February 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> However, some sources report his display at the zoo as being part of a personal menagerie of Hitler's,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite news|url=http://360tv.ru/news/pitomca-iz-lichnogo-zverinca-gitlera-snova-mozhno-uvidet-v-moskovskom-zooparke-18460/|title=Трофейного крокодила Гитлера снова можно увидеть в Московском зоопарке|work=Телеканал 360|access-date=27 February 2017|language=ru-RU|trans-title=Trophy crocodile Hitler can be seen again in the Moscow Zoo}}</ref> while Dmitry Vasilyev, a veterinarian at the Moscow Zoo, contends that while Saturn was not Hitler's pet, the two certainly came into contact, as Hitler was known to have visited the Berlin Zoo on occasion.<ref name=":7" />

During [[Social:World War II|World War II]], much of the Berlin Zoo was destroyed.<ref name=":1" /> Of the zoo's 16,000 animals, only 96 survived.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> When the aquarium building was destroyed by a bomb on 23 November 1943, 20 to 30 alligators and crocodiles were killed.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Press reports documented that the streets near the aquarium were littered with alligator and [[Biology:Crocodile|crocodile]] corpses, but that some, including Saturn, had survived and were wandering through the city in search of food.<ref name=":1" />

==Moscow Zoo==
At the close of the war, the Berlin Zoo area came under the jurisdiction of the British Zone of Occupation.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" /> In 1946, British soldiers discovered Saturn, and brought him to Leipzig, then part of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, where they gave Saturn to the Soviets.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/ultimatemoscowguide/posts/134735677008163:0|title=The last prisoner - Adolf Hitler's pet... - Ultimate moscow guide {{!}} Facebook|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> Because the Moscow tourism office burnt down in the 1950s, the exact details of how Saturn came to Russia are unknown, but the Red Army transported Saturn, along with an Indian python, to Moscow in July 1946, bringing him to live in the Moscow Zoo.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://old.themoscowtimes.com/sitemap/free/1994/2/article/130-years-of-history-at-the-city-zoo/351143.html|title=130 Years of History at the City Zoo|last=Dukess|first=Karen|date=15 February 1994|work=The Moscow Times|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> When the alligator arrived there, he instantly became a popular attraction, as there were only two crocodiles at the zoo and no other alligators.<ref name=":1" /> His German origins earned him the nickname 'Hitler', but he was later given the name 'Saturn'.<ref name=":0" /> When Russian tanks were moving down the Garden Ring during the 1993 constitutional crisis, Saturn cried out because of the vibrations, which a zookeeper thought reminded him of the Battle of Berlin.<ref name=":7" />

In the 1950s, the United States gave the Soviet Union a younger, female alligator as a gift.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":7" /> She was named Shipka, and she and Saturn began mating, but they did not produce any offspring as all of Shipka’s eggs were infertile.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":7" /> Shipka, who was thirteen years younger than Saturn, later died, and Saturn was so distressed by her death that he refused food for a time.<ref name=":2" /> By 2005, Saturn had a new mate, who was then thirty years old.<ref name=":1" />

During his time at the Moscow Zoo, Saturn experienced several narrow escapes from death. In the 1980s, a slab of concrete fell from the aquarium's ceiling into the alligator enclosure, but he was in a protective niche at the time.<ref name=":1" /> In 1990, a new aquarium building was built, but Saturn resisted the move, refusing to eat for four months and coming close to death.<ref name=":1" /> On another occasion, a drunk zoo visitor threw a boulder on his head to wake him up, after which zoo veterinarians fought to keep him alive for months.<ref name=":0" /> Later, a group of tourists threw glass bottles at Saturn, injuring him.<ref name=":9" /> After these incidents, the enclosure was made more secure with the addition of a thick glass wall.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":9" /> In the 2010s, Saturn once again stopped eating, this time for nearly a year.<ref name=":7" /> Zoo staff took blood samples for analysis, and injected him with vitamins to try to keep him alive.<ref name=":7" /> He eventually resumed eating.<ref name=":7" />

In his later years, Saturn spent much of his time sleeping. He ate a diet of fish, rabbits, and rats twice a week.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" /> Vladimir Kudryavtsev, the head of the Moscow Zoo's reptile department, said that not many visitors knew of Saturn's eventful history.<ref name=":1" /> Zoo staff only related Saturn's German origins to groups of visiting schoolchildren.<ref name=":1" /> When school groups came, the zookeepers allowed children to stick the end of a broomstick into the enclosure, which was safe because Saturn was generally peaceful.<ref name=":1" /> His only violent incident occurred in 1970, when he tried to bite an inexperienced warden who tried to feed him by hand.<ref name=":1" />

In 2015, the Moscow Zoo renovated the Terrarium, where the alligator enclosure is located.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://moscowzoo.su/about-zoo/news/novosti-zooparka/our-terrarium-has-opened-after-reconstruction/|title=Our Terrarium has opened after reconstruction|website=moscowzoo.su|publisher=Moscow Zoo|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> A new interior and reconstructed enclosure were completed, and Saturn returned to public display.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8" /> That year, Saturn was also sponsored by French clothing company Lacoste, whose logo is a crocodile.<ref name=":1" />

The Moscow Zoo announced that Saturn had died at the age of 83 or 84 on 22 May 2020. Mississippi alligators usually live 30–50 years in the wild. Saturn may have been the world's oldest alligator, although the title may belong to Muja, a male alligator residing at the Belgrade Zoo who is still alive as of 2020 and is in his 80s. At the time of Saturn's death, it was reported that his corpse was to be stuffed and placed on display at the State Darwin Museum, a biology museum in Moscow.<ref name="bbc" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite tweet |user= MoscowZoo |number= 1264144771020439552 |date= 23 May 2020 |language= Russian |script-title= ru:Вчера утром наш миссисипский аллигатор Сатурн умер от старости |trans-title= Yesterday morning, our Mississippi alligator Saturn died of old age }}
* {{cite web |url= https://www.welt.de/geschichte/article208211957/Tod-im-Moskauer-Zoo-Was-dran-ist-an-der-Story-von-Hitlers-Alligator.html |language= de |title= Was ist dran an der Story von "Hitlers Alligator" |trans-title= What is it about the story of “Hitler’s Alligator” |last= Kellerhoff |first= Sven Felix |date= 24 May 2020 |website= Die Welt }}&nbsp;— Photos of the Berlin Zoo aquarium in 1930 and 1943.

{{Urban legends}}

[[Category:Urban legends]]

{{Sourceattribution|Saturn (alligator)}}