Photo: VCG

Muja has lived through multiple bombing campaigns and several countries -- all while never leaving a tiny pool in Belgrade's zoo for 83 years, making him the world's oldest captive alligator.

He officially became the world's oldest captive alligator when Moscow zoo's famous Saturn, born in 1936, died in May.

The gator arrived in Belgrade when it was still the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, lived through the country's socialist era and the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia which ended in yet another bombing campaign, carried out by NATO in 1999.

Muja is still in "good health for his age," and the only time the veterinarians were seriously concerned was in 2012, when he had to have a right claw amputated due to gangrene.

"The surgery was very difficult, but successful. Muja recovered and adjusted to a new lifestyle," said Jozef Edvedj, the zoo's veterinarian.