During World War II, much of the Berlin Zoo was destroyed.[1] Of the zoo's 16,000 animals, only 96 survived.[3][2] When the aquarium building was destroyed by a bomb on 23 November 1943, 20 to 30 alligators and crocodiles were killed.[3][4] Press reports documented that the streets near the aquarium were littered with alligator and crocodile corpses, but that some, including Saturn, had survived and were wandering through the city in search of food.[3]