Meet Jonathan, the 183-year-old tortoise who is the world’s oldest living land creature

Jonathan the tortoise, who lives on the British territory of St Helena, is thought to be the world’s oldest living land creature.

His wrinkly skin, cataracts and difficulty swallowing are common enough in old age. But Jonathan had been ambling around for a century before today’s pensioners were born.

At the age of 183, this tortoise is thought to be the world’s oldest living land creature. Born in 1832 at the latest, he has plodded through two world wars and numerous revolutions, outlasting all his human companions. He was even photographed, looking rather elderly, with a prisoner during the Boer War, which ended in 1902.

Jonathan, of the species testudinidae cryptodira, was brought to the British territory of St Helena, a tiny island in the South Atlantic, in 1882, when he was already mature, meaning that he was at least 50 years old. He is thought to have been shipped from the Seychelles.

He has been kept in the paddock at Plantation House, the British governor’s residence, ever since, where visitors can observe his (lack of) movements at an appropriate distance from a “viewing corridor”.

He is looked after by his namesake, Jonathan Hollins, the island’s senior veterinary officer, who feeds him a large bucket of salad every Sunday.

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