Category Archive 'St. Helena'

03 Aug 2014

Jonathan Tortoise

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Jonathan is a Seychelles giant tortoise (Dipsochelys hololissa) residing in the grounds of the official residence of the Governor, at Plantation House, on the island of Saint Helena.

A photograph was uncovered in a collection of Boer War images showing a tortoise standing next to a war prisoner around the year 1900. On December 5, 2008, the Daily Mail published a story identifying Jonathan as the same tortoise pictured in the photograph.

Jonathan was brought to the island from the Seychelles in 1882, along with three other tortoises who are no longer with us. He was an adult tortoise at that time, so he would already have been at least 50 years old.

His minimum age is therefore 182, making him the oldest living land animal.


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