EPT
Jonathan the Tortoise
BBC News writes about Plantation House in St Helena and its tortoise, Jonathan. Jonathan is 182 years old and still kicking.
"He is virtually blind from cataracts, has no sense of smell - but his hearing is good," Joe tells me. At 182, Jonathan may be the oldest living land creature.
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Jonathan is a rare Seychelles Giant. His lawn-fellows hail from the Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean. Aldabra Giants number about 100,000, but only one small breeding population of Seychelles tortoises exists.
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Nobody knows why Jonathan ended up in St Helena.
During the 17th Century ships could contain hundreds of easily-stacked tortoises, like a fast-food takeaway. In the Galapagos islands alone around 200,000 tortoises are thought to have been killed and eaten at this time.
How did Jonathan avoid this fate?
...
Jonathan is a rare Seychelles Giant. His lawn-fellows hail from the Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean. Aldabra Giants number about 100,000, but only one small breeding population of Seychelles tortoises exists.
...
Nobody knows why Jonathan ended up in St Helena.
During the 17th Century ships could contain hundreds of easily-stacked tortoises, like a fast-food takeaway. In the Galapagos islands alone around 200,000 tortoises are thought to have been killed and eaten at this time.
How did Jonathan avoid this fate?
Read more.
Apparently this tortoise despite being nearly 2 centuries old is still sexually active and, despite being blind and unable to smell, has successfully scared his handlers into wearing thick gloves whenever they're near him because of his sharp beak. What a badass.
Since he gets to go wherever and people just bring him food, it seems like he spends most of his time wandering around, eating, and having sex with other tortoises. Not a bad life for a blind 182 year old tortoise.
