Alligator that survived Berlin WWII bombing on display in Moscow

MOSCOW-Agence France-Presse

An alligator believed to have belonged to Adolf Hitler that died aged 84 has been taxidermied and put on display in Moscow.

The Darwin Museum said the alligator named Saturn was put on public display several months after the Moscow Zoo donated his remains.

"The installation of Saturn in the permanent exhibition is the culmination of six months of work by our taxidermists and the entire museum," it said in a statement.

The museum said specialists began work in June, treating Saturn’s scales with a special solution.

Born in the United States in 1936, Saturn was moved to the Berlin zoo where he escaped on November 23, 1943, after a bombing raid that killed several of his fellow reptiles.

In 1946, he was found by British soldiers who handed him over to the Soviet authorities.

His whereabouts during the intervening three years are "a mystery", the Moscow Zoo said when Saturn died May 24.

When Saturn was brought to Moscow in July 1946, rumours began circulating that he had been part of Adolf Hitler’s personal collection, the zoo said.

Museums in Russia however are closed until January 16 as part of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus.