The world’s oldest living land animal is a Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa) named Jonathan, whose long life and “antics” have captured hearts around the world. That’s Jonathan, he recently celebrated his 191st birthday. This means Jonathan broke his own Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest chelonian.
Chelonian is the ancient name of animals belonging to the Chelonia family and is now called Testudines.
Jonathan’s life story is quite impressive. No one knows the exact date it hatched. It is thought that he came into the world around 1832 and was gifted as an adult tortoise to the future governor of Saint Helena, Sir William Grey-Wilson, in 1882, making him around 50 years old at the time.
Jonathan was given an official birthday date in 2022 by Saint Helena’s current governor, Nigel Philippes: December 4, 1832. Veterinarian Joe Hollins says Jonathan is living in good health despite his advanced age. “Although he has lost his sense of smell and is almost blind due to cataracts, he still has a good appetite,” Hollins told GWR.
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Jonathan eats his meals in the garden of the Plantation House with three other turtles, David, Emma and Fred. This is the official home of the governor of Saint Helena and where the old tortoise lived for most of his life. David and Emma joined him in 1969, while Fred became part of the group in 1991.
It was initially believed that Fred was female, but after Jonathan’s persistent mating attempts it was realized that he was male. Hollins says Jonathan still frequently tries to mate with both Emma and Fred. Animals generally aren’t very sensitive to gender, Hollins said.
In his 191 years of life, Jonathan saw the invention of the light bulb, the Wright brothers’ first flight, and the first men on the Moon. Jonathan is reportedly in good health and all current indications are that he will live a long time.
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