12-07-2022, 05:52 PM
When Jonathan the giant tortoise was born, Queen Victoria was just a teenager.
While the British monarch died more than 120 years ago aged 81, Jonathan is still shuffling around planet Earth.
Perhaps the most famous resident of St. Helena, one of the world's remotest islands, Jonathan is this year celebrating his 190th birthday -- making him the oldest tortoise ever to live.
According to Guinness World Records, Jonathan is the oldest-ever chelonian -- a category that encompasses all turtles, terrapins and tortoises.
Thought to have been born around 1832, Jonathan was gifted to Sir William Grey-Wilson -- who later became governor -- arriving in St. Helena from the Seychelles in 1882. A further 31 governors have come and gone in the decades since.
In truth, Jonathan could even be 200 years old as nobody knows his exact age, according to Matt Joshua, head of tourism on St. Helena.
He told CNN: "Jonathan could actually be 200 because the information regarding his arrival on the island is not exact and because there's no real record of his birth."
While the British monarch died more than 120 years ago aged 81, Jonathan is still shuffling around planet Earth.
Perhaps the most famous resident of St. Helena, one of the world's remotest islands, Jonathan is this year celebrating his 190th birthday -- making him the oldest tortoise ever to live.
According to Guinness World Records, Jonathan is the oldest-ever chelonian -- a category that encompasses all turtles, terrapins and tortoises.
Thought to have been born around 1832, Jonathan was gifted to Sir William Grey-Wilson -- who later became governor -- arriving in St. Helena from the Seychelles in 1882. A further 31 governors have come and gone in the decades since.
In truth, Jonathan could even be 200 years old as nobody knows his exact age, according to Matt Joshua, head of tourism on St. Helena.
He told CNN: "Jonathan could actually be 200 because the information regarding his arrival on the island is not exact and because there's no real record of his birth."
