Shell-ebrity: the world’s oldest turtle turns 190 years old



It was born shortly after the death of Napoleon and is now officially the oldest known land animal on the planet.

Jonathan The Seychelles giant tortoise is celebrating its 190th birthday – more or less – on Saint Helena in the remote South Atlantic, where the defeated French emperor died in exile in 1821.

Jonathan is believed to have hatched around 1832 based on the size of the shell, and he was brought to the British Overseas Territory from the Seychelles 50 years later.

He lives out a comfortable retirement at Plantation House, the official residence of the Governor of Saint Helena, where his birthday is celebrated every weekend, including the issuance of a special stamp.

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Sunday’s celebration culminates in a “birthday cake” made from Jonathan’s favorite foods.

According to his curators interviewed by AFP in 2017, he is particularly partial to carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, apples and pears.

Despite his advancing years, he also has a crush on a female turtle named Emma, ​​who is only in her 50s.

“He still enjoys the ladies and I heard him quite often in the corral with Emma and he grunted,” then-governor Lisa Phillips said at the time.

“I have to watch him when he does this – it wasn’t in the job description when I became governor.”

At the beginning of this year, Jonathan was given Guinness World Records for the world’s oldest living land animal, and this month it was also named the oldest tortoise ever.

“Come to think of it, if it was bred in 1832 – in the Georgian era – my God, what a change in the world,” said Joe Hollins, a retired veterinarian who today is Jonathan’s primary caregiver.

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“The world wars, the rise and fall of the British Empire, the many governors and kings and queens who have left, it’s completely unusual,” he said.

“And he was just here enjoying himself.”

While they hope for many more years, the authorities of Saint Helena have already drawn up plans for the possible death of the venerable Chelonian: his shell will be preserved for posterity.