The World’s Oldest Living Animal Celebrated His Birthday With A Strange ‘Request’

Imagine if there was someone out there old enough to have lived through all the biggest events of the 19th and 20th centuries. Someone who’d not only been around at the advent of spaceflight, but of powered flight itself! Well, such a being does indeed walk this Earth, but he’s not a human. He’s a tortoise named Jonathan, and he just celebrated his 190th birthday with one “shell” of a party. 

Gift of a tortoise

Nothing is known about Jonathan’s early life as a baby tortoise, because records don’t go back that far! But we know he was given as a present to the governor of St. Helena, William Grey-Wilson, in 1882. The world was a completely different place then and Jonathan’s seen it all change from his remote homeland in the southern stretches of the Atlantic Ocean.

Slow food

But Jonathan was lucky he got to live out his — very — long life in peace on the island rather than meeting a gruesome fate. In January 2022 his veterinarian Joe Hollins told The Washington Post newspaper, “It was quite traditional for [tortoises] to be used as diplomatic gifts around the world, if they weren’t eaten first. Apparently, they were utterly delicious.”

Among the last of his kind

Back in the 19th century, no-one was even sure what kind of tortoise Jonathan was. At first, he was thought to be a Aldabran tortoise from the Seychelles. But now that professionals have had the chance to examine him up close, they think there’s a chance he might actually be a Seychelles giant tortoise. There are fewer than 100 of them left in the world!

Mystery name

Jonathan not only didn’t have a confirmed species, he didn’t even have a name when he first arrived in St. Helena. The giant tortoise only got given a moniker in the 1930s when Governor Spencer Davis had control of the island. Why he chose the name Jonathan, chances are no-one will ever know. But it’s a nice name.

Changing times

And Jonathan didn’t just meet governors. He met Queen Elizabeth II in the years before she became the U.K.’s monarch, as well as plenty of other ambassadors from around the world. Back in those days, visitors would stand on the backs of Jonathan and other tortoises for fun — but we know now that that’s a terrible idea which can stress out the animals.

Record breakers

It was in February 2019 that Guinness World Records gave Jonathan the title of “World’s Oldest Land Animal.” At that point, he was about to turn 187 — but that meant he was still a year away from the “oldest tortoise of all time” title. In 2019 that record still belonged to a Tonga turtle called Tu'i Malila, who had died at the age of 189.

Love is in the air

But Jonathan has now surpassed Tu’i Malila — and gained himself a massive fan club along the way. One thing that brought him to public attention was his choice of mate. Jonathan started to get lonely in 1991 and so his keepers found him a tortoise to mate with, Frederica. But 30 years later, it turned out Frederica was actually a male!

Gay icon

Jonathan gained a little bit of status as a gay icon after that! The website HuffPost declared in a 2017 headline “The Oldest Animal In The World Is Probably Gay” and relayed a sweet story about Jonathan not leaving Frederica’s side when he was undergoing surgery. Jonathan’s true sexuality probably can’t really be defined in human terms, though.

Sex education

Dr. Hollins talked about Jonathan’s mates to the Guinness World Records website in February 2019. He said, “In spite of his age, Jonathan still has good libido and is seen frequently to mate with Emma [a female tortoise] and sometimes Fred — animals are often not particularly gender-sensitive!” He had lots of other tidbits about Jonathan to share as well.

Improvements

Dr. Hollins talked about Jonathan’s more recent history. He said, “Some ten years ago, improvements were made to Jonathan’s habitat and it was noticed that he [was having problems feeding]. His beak was blunt so that he struggled to scythe the grass — other tortoises have finely grooved beaks resulting in a serrated edge that cuts grass — and he would often try to graze on areas of leaf mold or dirt. His sense of smell seems to be non-existent.” 

Favorite foods

The vet went on, “We introduced once-weekly feeding of good calorific food and this has transformed him, demonstrating probable micro-deficiencies of vitamins, minerals and trace elements. He loves banana, but it tends to gum up his mouth. Lettuce hearts, though not very nutritious, are a favorite.” Among Jonathan’s other faves were carrots, cucumber, lettuce and apple.

Restrictions

Dr. Hollins also talked about keeping Jonathan out of danger, because unfortunately some people still don’t know how to behave around animals. Restrictions had to be put in place “due to mobbing and inappropriate behavior by cruise-ship tours.” Luckily though, Jonathan was still willing to be around visitors to St. Helena: people could still drop in to see him.

Tortoise life

Asked, “What does a typical day involve for Jonathan?” Dr. Hollins answered, “He enjoys the Sun, but on very hot days takes to the shade. On mild days, he will sunbathe — his long neck and legs stretched fully out of his shell to absorb heat and transfer it to his core. It’s an odd posture and before now we have had panicked phone calls to say he appeared to have died!”

Oldest chelonian

But Jonathan’s not dead yet! His 190th birthday party in 2022 was a big celebration, not least because the Guinness World Records gifted him another title. It announced on its website, “Celebrating his 190th birthday this year, Jonathan is now the oldest tortoise ever. His official record title is oldest chelonian — a category which encompasses all turtles, terrapins and tortoises.”

Christmas tortoise

But how does any human being on the planet right now know when Jonathan’s birthday actually is? No-one knows for certain, so they had to assign one to him. In 2022 Governor Nigel Phillips declared Jonathan’s official birthday to be December 4, 1832 — and handily, this also coincided with the popular Christmas celebrations on St. Helena island!

History

Dr. Hollins explained the math behind that decision when he was interviewed by local newspaper The Sentinel. He said, “What we rely on is the documentation. Basically, a Governor of 1890-odd wrote a letter saying that Jonathan was landed in 1882 fully grown; and fully grown is about 50 years of age.” Plus, how could you have a tortoise of that age walking around and not want to give him a birthday party?

Celebration

In fact, the island celebrated Jonathan’s 190th birthday not just in December but for the entire year of 2022. St. Helena’s went all-out with commemorative coins, art contests, crowd-sourced photo montages, and videos about Jonathan’s greatest achievements. That’s because he’s achieved a lot in his long, long life… including helping scientists research serious diseases that affect humans.

Advancing science

In 2020 The Sentinel reported on how Dr. Hollins was taking DNA samples from Jonathan to send to cancer researchers. That meant he had the risky job of sticking his hand in the tortoise’s mouth. Dr. Hollins said, “I’ve lost two nails so far. With a gloved hand, I wedge my fingers in his mouth, and with my other hand I have two swabs, and quickly rub his tongue just to pick up saliva.”

Analyzing DNA

The saliva samples were being sent to the Vanderbilt Medical Center, and Dr. Hollins explained what they were after. The scientists were analyzing the DNA to find out why the cells of a long-lived tortoise didn’t mutate in the same way a human’s would. The data will be stored to help other scientists in the future.

Living for longer

Scientists also think Jonathan and others like him might hold keys to helping humans live longer. Fernando Colchero of the University of Southern Denmark told The Times newspaper in June 2022, “We will never be immortal. What we might be able to do, though, is find ways to reduce considerably the increased risk of death with age.”

Extraordinary

So there are many, many reasons to celebrate Jonathan and his amazing longevity. Dr. Hollins spoke for a lot of people when he said in an officially released video, “When you think, if he was hatched in 1832 — the Georgian era — my goodness, the changes in the world. The world wars, the rise and fall of the British Empire, the many governors, kings, and queens that have passed, it’s quite extraordinary. And he’s just been here, enjoying himself.”

Birthday surprise

And Jonathan “requested” his favorite foods for his birthday party! He got a special cake with all his favorite foods on it, such as tomatoes and bananas. Eating such mismatched ingredients would probably gross out a lot of humans, but for Jonathan it surely counted as a huge, delicious feast.

Playing to the camera

And by accounts Jonathan greatly enjoyed all the attention. Another of his caretakers, Teeny Lucy, told CBC after the fact, "We have noticed that sometimes he almost feels as if he’s playing to the camera, but we can’t be sure. He doesn’t sort of wander off. He just stays with you.” She added, “He’s been a bit spoiled this week, to be honest. He’s probably recovering now.”

Old age

Jonathan’s age was starting to get to him, Lucy said, and she thought he could now “only see shadows” in addition to no longer having a sense of smell. But she added, “I only have to go into the paddock and talk, and he gravitates towards my voice and starts walking towards me.” Even though that was probably because he associated humans with food, it was still cute.

Herbs

So what is it that’s allowed Jonathan to live so long? There are some theories from experts. Dr Rebecca Cairns-Wicks told The Independent newspaper in 2008, “Without suggesting that any scientific proof exists, Jonathan reaching such an exceptional age could be due to the effects of ‘Monkey’s ears’, Centella asiatica, which is a common herb of pastures on St. Helena.”

Monkey’s ears

She went on, “The leaves are rounded and slightly resemble monkey ears. It is apparently enjoyed by cattle and sheep and is abundant in the grass sward at Plantation. According to my book on herbs it has many medicinal uses in Asia, it is described as a rejuvenating diuretic herb that clears toxins, reduces inflammation and fever and boosts healing and immunity.”

Whale of a time

Still, despite Jonathan’s incredibly long life, he still has a way to go if he’s to become the longest-lived creature ever. Whales are beating tortoises in the battle for longevity. Scientists think that bowhead whales are the mammals with the longest lifespan: one such creature is reported to have lived to the ripe old age of 211.

The winner

But the world record-holder for longest-lived animal of all time is actually a clam. A clam called Ming, in fact. Ming the clam lived to be over 500 years old before it was killed — ironically by scientists doing experiments on it to try and determine its true age. Imagine the stories it could have told if it could speak.

Long-lived

Jonathan the tortoise probably won’t live to 500 years old, but his keepers are just happy to have known him in the first place. Dr. Hollins told The Washington Post, “When he does go, it will be difficult, though we are realistic and prepared.” Hopefully he’ll get to see a few more birthday parties before that happens.