Meet Muja, The World's Oldest Alligator

It is often said that Crocodilians have been around forever. That isn’t strictly true of course, but these large semi-aquatic reptiles have been roaming the Earth (and the water) for going on 83.5 million years. To put this in some sort of context, Crocodilians and birds are the only survivors of the Archosauria, the animal group that included the dinosaurs. In short, they are old.
Alligators are members of the Crocodilian group, but individual ‘gators don’t live so long in comparison. They don’t really get old in any way, as they are just as capable in youth as in old age, but the average lifespan of a modern alligator peaks at around 50 (human) years. Those in Belgrade don’t do things normally, however, and it’s in the Serbian capital that the world’s oldest living alligator is found.

Throughout the difficult times, Muja was one of the animals that became a symbol of the zoo. Crocodilians are defined by their ability to survive, and Muja was a great case in point. Serbia’s woes continued with the implosion of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, a decade that ended with more Western bombs dropping on Belgrade. Muja continued to survive, singling him out as an inaudible observer of Belgrade’s tumultuous modern history.
71 years after he first arrived in Belgrade, Muja took on the mantle of the oldest living alligator on the planet. He ascended to the throne in 2007, when an alligator by the name of Cabulitis passed away in Riga Zoo. The difficult life that Muja had endured led many to believe that his time on top would be short, but the naysayers have since been proven very wrong.

That isn’t to say that it has been plain sailing for the veteran alligator. Muja underwent surgery in 2012, as gangrene infected his limbs and led to some of his leg being amputated. Muja’s days are as leisurely as it gets, spending most of his time in the pond before retiring to his cave chamber in winter. He is fed by handlers, as much to avoid overeating as anything else. He barely moves, but you can bet your bottom dinar that his every motion creates a stir in this part of the world.
Muja the alligator is the only surviving animal here from the World War II period, a reptile that has outlived millions of people and seen his fair share of tragedy. We can never be sure how long he has left, but his name will live on in Crocodilian infamy for all eternity, if such a thing can be presumed to exist.