History

Leningrad. Summer 1941. At the zoo, while preparing for evacuation, the staff understood that reptiles were among the most vulnerable.

The pre-war Leningrad Zoo housed quite a number of reptiles: snakes, lizards, monitor lizards, various species of turtles, and crocodiles. They required constant heat, humidity, specialized lighting, and food, which was nearly impossible to provide in a besieged and unpowered city. When mass evacuation began in June/July 1941, reptiles were prioritized. Attempts were made to move them first because without electricity and heating, they were doomed to a slow death by cold.

At the end of June/beginning of July, the first train echelon departed for Kazan with approximately 80 animals. Among them were black panthers, tigers, polar bears, a rhinoceros, a tapir, pelicans, large parrots, kangaroos, and monkeys—as well as reptiles. Exact species lists for the reptiles have not survived, but sources mention that snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles were transported in the train. One American crocodile did not make it to Kazan. It died en route from stress, shaking, and the inability to maintain the required temperature. Its body simply could not withstand the journey.

Another shipment of reptiles (and other animals) was sent to Belarus, but the war caught up with them in Vitebsk. The train carrying the animals was bombed by the Luftwaffe (Trains and railway strategic infrastructure were a priority target for attacks).

In Leningrad itself remained those who could not be evacuated in time. Large predators were shot on the authorities’ orders to prevent them from breaking out during bombings. And the reptiles… they simply froze. Terrariums cooled down within hours; water in the drinking bowls turned to ice; and food (insects, vegetables, meat) disappeared.

Tropical snakes and lizards died first—their metabolism required heat, without which they fell into a coma and died. The crocodiles were fortunately evacuated in time.

By the spring of 1942, almost all reptiles in the besieged zoo had perished. The only one to survive all 872 days was a small star tortoise. It was one of the most undemanding animals, possessing a slow metabolism and the ability to hibernate at low temperatures.

The zoo staff did everything possible for her: they arranged warm shelters made of blankets and carried her to heated corners where they themselves sought warmth. The tortoise was fed scraps of vegetables, grass, and potato peels—the minimum required to prevent starvation. She did not demand meat, nor did she panic from the bombings; she simply waited.

By 1943, when only about a hundred animals remained in the zoo, the star tortoise was the only reptile alive. All other reptiles had died.

After the blockade was broken and the war ended, reptiles gradually returned to Leningrad, but those evacuated to Kazan partially remained there, forming the basis for the Kazan Zoo and Botanical Garden. The Leningrad Zoo preserved the memory of that tortoise as a quiet, small creature that did not cry out or roar, but simply survived against all odds.