On the tiny island of St. Helena, in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, lives a giant tortoise named Jonathan. He’s around 193 years old, which makes him the oldest known land animal alive today. He hatched around 1832, when the camera was a brand-new invention and most people had never ridden a train.
Jonathan was brought to St. Helena from the Seychelles in 1882. Since then he has lived in the gardens of the governor’s house, plodding slowly around the lawn and eating piles of cabbage, carrots, cucumbers and bananas. A vet hand-feeds him three times a week with food cut into easy bites.
Jonathan’s senses have faded. He’s mostly blind and can’t smell food well, but his hearing is still sharp. He recognizes the voice of his keeper and the sound of his food bucket. He has been alive through 40 U.S. presidents and the entire history of automobiles - and the world’s oldest tortoise is still slowly chomping away.
