08/24/2026
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Jonathan was already 50 years old when he arrived on St Helena in 1882, and he's still there.
He's a Seychelles giant tortoise, hatched around 1832, which makes him 194 and the oldest living land animal on Earth.
Think about what that means. He was alive before the telephone. Before the lightbulb. Before anyone had photographed a human being properly.
He's blind now, and he lost his sense of smell years back. Doesn't stop him. His keepers hand feed him and he still eats like he's got plans.
Two centuries of empires rising and collapsing, and the tortoise just kept grazing.
