Social media users recently celebrated the 192nd birthday of Jonathan the tortoise, widely believed to be the oldest known living land animal. Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise, was hatched in 1832 and has been alive for an enormous chunk of modern history in his time under the sun. He currently resides on the British territory of Saint Helena.
Testifying the authenticity of Jonathan’s nearly two centuries of life, a Snopes fact-check confirmed that it is “mostly true” that he was 192 years old. However, the site noted that it was actually undetermined what the exact date of his birth was, but did verify from historical sources that Jonathan was roughly around 1832. Reportedly, sources confirmed that Jonathan was fully grown when he arrived on St. Helena in 1882, making him approximately 50 years old.
Furthermore, photographic evidence has surfaced showing Jonathan in 1886 when he was fully grown. Some speculate that Jonathan might have even hatched before the accepted hatch date of 1832, making him even older than 192. Nonetheless, the distinguished tortoise holds the Guinness World Record as the oldest living land animal and the oldest chelonian.
Co-founder of The American Tribune and outspoken tortoise enthusiast Will Tanner shared a heartfelt post to X, celebrating Jonathan’s highly anticipated birthday on December 4. “Today is Jonathan the Tortoise’s 192 birthday! Imagine what your views would be if you were born in 1832 and still around in 2024,” he wrote. “Say hello to Jonathan.. he was born in 1832 & is 192 years old.” See Tanner’s message below:
Today is Jonathan the Tortoise’s 192 birthday!
Imagine what your views would be if you were born in 1832 and still around in 2024 pic.twitter.com/0jcUNuvb9b
— Will Tanner (@Will_Tanner_1) December 4, 2024
Furthermore, the popular account, Wolf of X, shared a lengthy thread to X, outlining the fascinating history of Jonathan. The post read, “Jonathan is a giant tortoise that lives on the remote island of St. Helena. He turns 192 years old this year, making him the world’s oldest tortoise to ever live. Photographed as far back as 1886 and today, Jonathan now has pictures taken over 138 years apart.”
The Wolf of X continued, “Jonathan is a giant Seychelles tortoise who arrived at St. Helena by ship in 1882. A letter in the island’s records states that the tortoise was a gift to St. Helena from British colonial administrator Sir William Grey-Wilson, who later became the island’s governor in 1887.” The thread added, “Jonathan was fully grown at that time [of arriving at St. Helena], which would be at least 50 years old, so his hatching year would have been about 1832,” says Teeny Lucy of the St. Helena SPCA. “He is the oldest land animal in the world.”
“Celebrating his 192th birthday this year, Jonathan was just certified as the world’s oldest land animal and oldest turtle ever by Guinness World Records,” he added. “His official record title is oldest chelonian – a category which encompasses all turtles, terrapins, and tortoises,” Guinness World Records writes. “The previous oldest chelonian was Tu’i Malila, a radiated tortoise that lived to be at least 188.”
Watch the footage of a gator dragging a humongous python in the Everglades below:
Featured image credit: Xben911, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jonathan-plantation-house.jpg
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