Jonathan, St. Helena's ancient tortoise, awaits visitors

He is a tourist attraction worth travelling a long way to see -- Jonathan the giant tortoise is perhaps the world's oldest land animal, living in pampered luxury on the remote British island of St. Helena.

[@sqeezyyy]

Imagine being the governor and half your job consists of checking if a tortoise has fallen over.

[@R1ch8484]

Dream job! lol

[@lowmax4431]

Governuh*

[@ShadowFungus]

Well.. that turtle is a living history.

[@awddfg]

Would be a nice peaceful job

[@anotherNYer]

I am happy that he is well-cared for.

[@reeetawd]

John out here still getting girls even tho he's blind and 180 years old

[@lisainger6751]

@@reeetawd LOL

[@davidmartinez3272]

​@@reeetawd he's gay

[@themegaforce810]

He’s living a stress-free life in a beautiful area.

[@talkaboutwacky]

I hear he enjoys watching Golden Girls reruns and spends half his day looking for his television remote

[@coppingtonfarnham7731]

Wow he's still around five years later...now aged about 190 years! I heard on another clip that he could be even older....he's a minimum of 190 years. He was fully grown (for tortoises that's 50 years) in the early 1880's when photos were taken of him.

[@RealMdrid3]

wow older than any humans at the moment.

[@speedyx3493]

He is AT LEAST 190yo, he is most likely another human lifespan older. If you are watching from the US, this guy is older than your country

[@PheNom1466]

They can reach adult size around 20 years of age. Regardless he's old as hell

[@poster5887]

@@speedyx3493 US older than 190 yrs

[@Vividlyforgotten]

@@poster5887 still a very early country

[@Triplezero13999]

He’s almost as old as the queen.

[@lindaclaycomb2629]

Haha!🤣😂

[@alecwojtowiczz]

@Digonto you missed the joke

[@ksgrmdsdl2383]

The queen has refused to die. lol

[@topnineshow]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Q--_--90909]

He's older

[@alicecoates1179]

Bless his heart. What an incredibly humbling and astounding creature. May beautiful Jonathan live in peace and safety being cared for, revered and adored for many more years to come.

[@omarcook3663]

180+ and still getting it in with the ladies blind and all. That's inspiring😂✊🏿

[@nicktan4530]

And us males still cant get on with our females, what a joke

[@strvmpet]

the funny part is that he's gay

[@Setsu3004]

Actually one of his mates is male (Fred)

[@kikelomohassan7638]

@@nicktan4530 Sounds like a you problem

[@nicktan4530]

@@kikelomohassan7638 what do you mean ?

[@jonnybirchyboy1560]

Jonathan is a world treasure

[@luna39900]

He will outlive those who made his obituary

[@ivansemenchuk1489]

We must protect Jonathan at all costs

[@111W1]

Nah you can't even protect it from a 500 lbs woman and that's actually how he died he got sat on.

[@deontaeavila3514]

@@111W1 hilarious

[@fleetsonair8337]

1:24 When a tortoise gets more action than you

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

An ELDERLY tortoise even...

[@benc.3128]

@@Amy_the_Lizard *ultra elderly*

[@bilbobagpipe2384]

*enjoying* emily

[@Viva_Cynefin]

💀

[@kittycatwithinternetaccess2356]

@@benc.3128 *Ancient*

[@mr.v6052]

Jonathan has now outlived 2 of the longest reigning monarchs in British history. Imagine that.

[@apt.suryaperdanawicaksana7985]

He's now 189 years old..

[@ronaldreaganrimjobs4670]

Doesnt look a day over 188

[@michaelpryor78]

At least

[@jondough3339]

I would’ve guessed 69

[@alancosta4760]

He'll get 200 we hope

[@D0NTREPLY]

estimate tho. he could be 300yrs for all we know.

[@Jabzor]

Thousand of men from multiple generations tore eachother apart with bombs and bullets while this tortoise lived a peaceful simple life.

[@mr.apocalypse5143]

“Thousands” is a huge understatement.

[@r.a.6459]

He might just survive World War 3 where atomic bombs become the weapons.

[@levent.a.7280]

Billions not thousands

[@southernshenanigans3069]

Wow. That wasn't in the job description! Love it.

[@MeliiiSpeliii]

😅😅

[@SERGIO-cr6uy]

I'd be happy to get paid to watch turtle fornicate

[@topnineshow]

😂😂

[@borbors]

@@SERGIO-cr6uy Well atleast you would be getting paid and you would stop creeping people out at the zoo...XD

[@mifushimoto-san49]

''Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is gift''.. that's why they call it present.

[@RyogaEchizen]

thanks

[@dogecorgi2287]

So cute😍

[@Stiltra]

Happy birthday Johnathan you’re a true legend. These people better protect you at all costs. Onto 200!!!

[@wokcentral1]

this turle has been around since 1832. let that sink in how much history that has happened and this tortoise has lived through it all. oh just to pet this beast

[@rakijr9176]

that's a lot of fruit

[@wokcentral1]

@@rakijr9176 💀💀

[@NickCADA]

He was alive during both world wars, Boer Wars and while Vincent Van Gogh was making his famous paintings

[@bretonneux3389]

since he's from saint helena, it's a shame he was not born 13 years earlier, and was not nurtured by Napoleon (who died at Saint Helena in 1821)

[@febririyan7776]

I wish he could talks, so he would tell us great stories.

[@MTC008]

if this turtle is a human or if that can talk as you said, then yes jonathan can tell us a lot of things and give the history more accuracy

[@Peacock__]

"I ate grass." "I ate carrot"

[@drip4304]

@@Peacock__ oh great ancient jonathan thank you for your wisdom

[@jongiovanna4242]

What a big adorable man omg tortoises are so awesome. He looks so young!

[@amankashyap4554]

Anyone from 🇮🇳🇮🇳 ?

[@johnkenley4687]

I'd personally love to meet johnathan. Would be incredible to see something that has lived to see so much.

[@robertomoi2044]

Except that he hasn't, seeing that he's blind.

[@frankturner316]

you will never meet him

[@Melissa-vs7ek]

not really, he’s blind so it’s not like he can see the news or something

[@chameleonagreen5644]

I have met Jonathan. He was really friendly and loved all the attention he got from us. He's bigger than you think. I was on Saint Helena on a Napoleonic Tour. Jonathan was an unexpected surprise 😮

[@swadey2.017]

Holy s**t! This guy's older than Abraham lincoln, let that sink in..

[@robocock475]

But not as old as Joe Biden

[@swadey2.017]

@@robocock475 No, but he's pretty close!

[@TPDManiacXC626]

@@swadey2.017 Johnathan here is a gorgeous animal. The late Larry King however, I must be brutally honest, seeing him on tv as a kid growing up in the 90s and 2000s he was not good to look at. He looked like a half-dead zombie covered in shit!

[@elias7748]

No he’s not. Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809 or sumn

[@mr.apocalypse5143]

He may literally be older than Lincoln was but I’m not sure. He’s older than Lincoln’s assassin though and he’s old enough to be Hitler’s grandfather.

[@s.hayder3429]

Cute! He have lived for so long and he still looks healthy. The Tortoise Jonathan ❤️

[@rifasclub]

Jonathan: Hundred and fifty, and still young, dude.

[@TheConorsmithusa]

Hundred and ninety

[@ann-margretcochran399]

Referencing Finding Nemo, love it.

[@Nox.INkRecords]

Jonathan: I'm gonna outlive you, your kids, your great grandkids.

[@entitledindustries9135]

i bet wisdom radiates from that tortoise like sunshine

[@avishayil3863]

Imagine if Jonathan was human, how wise he would be!

[@pallavikoirala8526]

Exactly I was thinking about that 🙂 it would be so good you know

[@bluecow7883]

JONATHAN JOEST-

[@johndiddilyjoe6258]

@@bluecow7883 that's not even a joke you're just saying the characters name

[@roberthill799]

Not necessarily. Some people, almost willfully, become more idiotic as they age. And I'm not referring to dementia. Just run-of-the-mill stupidity and refusing to read or do anything that might lift the curtain of ignorance.

[@shotglassanhero]

Anyone that lived that long would probably want to die. Unless you found a way to preserve youth, I'd still wager most would want to probably call it quits 500-1000 years in at the maximum.

[@Gomace]

Bro, this guy lived through all the wars.

[@tremendeouschamp2845]

@Drunk Doggy he was born around 1850 to 1870

[@tremendeouschamp2845]

@Drunk Doggy some say he is more than 200 years old already

[@mr.apocalypse5143]

@Drunk Doggy Don’t forget the American Civil War which was 50 years before World War 1.

[@r.a.6459]

@Drunk Doggy now add War in Ukraine to the list.

[@lisa438321]

I wanna retire to an island when I’m old. Lucky tortoise

[@thetree6481]

Turtles are one of the most calm animals. Jonathan roams the island magnificently.

[@SuccessforLifester]

Enjoying Emily..

[@northseapirate2313]

There were still living signers of the Declaration of Independence when this guy was born

[@DonaldBinks]

Johnathan has always been, and always will be. Johnathan is

[@1.4142]

This tortoise was alive when Texas was a country and the telegraph wasn't invented yet.

[@D0NTREPLY]

the pyramid builders used to feed him during their lunch breaks. lol

[@vFANGv]

A tortoise is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.

[@yayayayya4731]

"There are no accidents" --Jonathan

[@edilsonlima5985]

If Jonathan has 190 years old, was the born around the 1832 year? Before the second industrial revolution around 1850. Then, this animal was born 10 years after Napoleon's death in Santa Helena. It's good to know that have vets taken care of this old and fragile animal.

[@jamesflaherty59]

He could be older, the 180 is a (probably pretty precise) estimate of his age. But he may have been alive when Napoleon was still hobbling around St Helena

[@shubhamvishwakarma3629]

Such a beautiful animal.

[@neb4233]

I love it

[@freddiebeltran8174]

Wow so amazing and just so awe inspiring .❤

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

He’s amazing!

[@sirbedevere4944]

If we can perform cataract surgery on fish we can do it on a tortoise. HELP THE MAN SEE.

[@torzlangley5659]

They can, ive a horsfield blind in one almost and i was offered it removed if it gets worse. Probs not being done due to his age and the anaesthetic. My boys old for his breed which is why we have not also. Mines able to see fine in other and smells no issue. So we left it for now, but if its possible on my lil it is on him

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

Probably due to age, and the fact that full anesthesia is harder to perform on reptiles than mammals in the first place (which is why vets prefer to use local anesthesia instead whenever possible.) Cataract surgery generally involves full anesthesia, so old + reptile = not good. I'm sure they'd risk it if he needed some emergency surgery, but it's not worth the risk since it doesn't seem to be impacting his quality of life much

[@OmarScruggs]

That turtle is like how long does this last....geeze!

[@joydevbhattacharjee5511]

Still getting it on with the ladies!true man of culture

[@kristiaspight332]

Wow!!! I have so many questions to ask Jonathan...Did he like Abe Lincoln as president? If not, which president was his favorite? Did fruits and vegetables taste better back then? Does he have any kids and are they still living? If only I could speak tortoise!!

[@northseapirate2313]

“What side of the Civil War did you fight on?” “My lawyer has advised me not to answer that question”

[@eddystrauss1453]

What a gentle giant ❤️

[@fiacradoyle7474]

He's a cutie love all animals.

[@vijayanikam9595]

Who all came after seeing A2 motivation video✌️

[@c0mpu73rguy]

I sure hope this fella will outlive me.

[@purpleguydeadly4235]

Imagine living through the American Civil War and both world wars and Still being alive

[@Pluto4Life]

Cool tortoise. He must have accumulated a lot of properties over the years. Who'll inherent those? 🤔

[@arts3604]

Live another 500years.. Love..

[@frankturner316]

He's cute. Good vibe, I could chill with him

[@mhaas281]

Amazing. If he could talk I bet he would have some great story's to tell us.

[@ibidthefrog]

I don't suppose he's very interested in the news! But his boat journey from the Seychelles might be interesting to learn about

[@Pazuzu-tn7bv]

Amazing !!!

[@jzk3919]

On St.Helena one tortoise given to the exiled Napoleon was called Ethel. She died sometime in the 1950-ies in January when she got pneumonia (that was kinda overlooked by the keepers). And Ethel was not a baby tort when the kaiser took possession of her.🐢🤴

[@hmwellplayed]

Rip

[@joyboy1536]

such fascinating creatures!!

[@ynashields994]

Does Jonathan have any offsprings?

[@ThatCarGuy]

Glad to hear this old boy still kicking. Hope he comes the longest lived tortoise, he is right now tied.

[@gerrardhyatt5120]

He is 190 years old today

[@jenniferjean]

186 years old and he still wants to procreate. Amazing 👏😉😄

[@The.Last.Guitar.Hero.]

what a legend!

[@paolocagz]

190 years old! Woah!

[@googleuser5663]

Way to go, old man, still romancing the ladies, old habits die hard with Jonathan.

[@likesrush]

I wouldn't mind that job description at all. If I could, I'd buy up islands and breed different tortoises on each one and have huge tankers bring hay and all kinds of care to suit every need. Each island would have a family or 2, maybe more to take care of these creatures and to breed up numbers if endangered species to release in the wild again, researching how to make a tortoise feel comfortable after moving. It might be with that situation to bring all the same food and many of the same people to the native location and let them ease into it over time. I LOVE TURTLES AND TORTOISES. People run over so many in the highways. Something needs to prop up these vulnerable little guys, or huge guys with no habitat. We just do not have Earth is we don't have TERRAPINS. Aren't they among the oldest creatures? They've seen dinosaurs come and go and I hope they see every other change earth goes through. That's why it's important to support the diversity of them. There's no way to know which kind will be the survivors of the human mass extinction, that we are. For every turtle, there are at least 10,000 people. It makes being human more humbling. We're so expendable. Would the earth suffer if we went extinct? I think we all agree that people are absolutely the worst animal to happen to the planet, and our behavior outs us right up there with any other mass extinction event. I can't believe how much people have forgotten about their childhoods. If you're about 60 or so, you remember monarch butterflies, walking sticks, preying mantis, stag beetles or whatever we had...they aren't as big as the Japanese ones but we had those, even cicadas. I remember when they were deafening. It was hard to talk over them. Now there are barely any ti be heard at all. If I started in on animals, birds, fish and aquatic life in general, I'd be writing a book. But 60 year olds often don't even remember how bad car exhaust stunk back then and they'll even deny there's any difference !!!!!! WHO THE HELL BRAINWASHED EVERYONE? WAKE UP. Serve the planet or suffer. I've written out plans for how to restore our rainforests and jungles. It's mostly, "pay them for the oxygen resources we all enjoy". And it's a plan about how to go about turning subsistence farmers looking for $3 a day into professional rainforest agents who protect, nourish, nurture, plant saplings, an entire chapter on the saplings factories worldwide, paying for their carbon BACK PAY in supplies and saplings and the means to plant them in the best practices etc by these families you train. Most universities should have a degree program in Rainforest, Jungle Ecology, Biology, Protection and Restoration, or RJEBPR. These grads become the go-to people after a couple of years working with the peoples trying to make a living by burning the forest. The most important thing is that it must be a worldwide international cooperative effort to save PNG from Cargill and corporations that strip it barren for free, the tapers and pillagers the pirates, (ok, that's enough, damn). But just Imagine the results. It'd be the greatest ever international joint effort to recreate a planetary resource ever, the largest and most beautiful construction ever made by humankind. We could no longer feel like the destroyers and takers we are at present. We don't participate in the cycles of life on Earth with our waste and our dead. We only take and expect the food to nourish us from the same depleted soil. We truly are stupid creatures. Even cattle walk in the narrow foot trails they create on the prairie, to save that grass for lunch tomorrow. Their poo is valuable. That's a creature that belongs in earth. People? not so much. Turtles yes. That's what I was talking about. I couldn't sleep last night. Sorry folks. But think about creating that international team of educated young people to go visit these people with the cooperation of those nations on which our world's carbon scrubbing machine is. To show up, protect the fauna and flora both. To restore new trees like the ones that were burned but restored in reverse order, even scrubbing out the roads as we work out way back out. Heck, we'd look like we're an evolved species. Imagine that. Using money to restore what we destroyed instead if military this and that. It just hire the military to train up a body of volunteers to go and protect it from ships that come into the forest and cut down the trees. We act like we don't know it's happening. If you go to China, you'll see that almost everything is made from wood taken from south America. The workmanship us gorgeous, but that's beside the point. Over a billion people are sleeping on beds made from rainforest wood. We'll stop them. Pay them to sell their wood resources much more carefully. Or stop it for a few decades or more. They can grow their own trees. They need some. Off topic again. More people are destroying the earth even in ways they have no idea of, than those with a surplus good. This can all be managed better, but first start the rainforest jungle ecology and their restoration maintenance and protection. I just changed the name. The name doesn't matter. just do it. Ok, I got to sleep. So tired. GREAT VIDEO

[@rishoutfield2043]

Thing is, if he did end up on his back, how many people would it take to get him right side up?

[@Tamerlane619]

That is Mr. Oogway for sure.

[@abhaynath5833]

Master Oogway 🙏🙏🙏

[@EyesHaveMiles420]

This Jonathon lives that Jonathan.

[@ayumi]

Nice.

[@mig0171]

How nice 🥰🥰

[@whoswho9319]

This creatures was waking the earth when queen Victoria was a baby

[@aletheiahenosis5962]

He was around when the Ottoman empire was still here

[@1.4142]

He was more than 90 years old when the ottoman empire fell.

[@tridentinerestoration1348]

Dude has seen the Maple Leafs win all 11 Stanley Cups

[@jaydenhogan507]

He’s lived through so much history. Poor guy is probably waiting for his original owners to return.

[@h.t.awesome3822]

Waiting for Jonathan senior to come back with the lettuce

[@ricarleite]

That tortoise is 3 years older than MARK TWAIN. It was 33 years old when Lincoln was shot. It is 50 years OLDER than Roosevelt.

[@bestuan]

how did they get the cameraman in st helena

[@schrodingerscat1105]

I hope he never dies

[@giraffeman326]

I like to think he was there as far back as when Napoleon was there

[@tanmaysharma6854]

He was born in 1832

[@BlueBear5791]

He has a cool name 😎

[@JodyJoe-JJ]

Sweetheart blessings Jonathan to many many more string years ahead baby♡♡♡🫶🏼🐢😘

[@Blue_Lugia]

He's so cute, pet me tell you.

[@mfa2531]

damn imagine jonathan can talk maybe we can ask what he knew during world war even he can be a witness of life that happened before

[@MTC008]

Jonathan stayed most of it's life in an island

[@16.rafialtariq10]

Nice to see you still alive Mr. Oogway

[@seanb3226]

One of the Founding Fathers was still alive when Jonathan was born...wow 😂

[@suspiciouschicken]

I wish he could talk imagine the stories

[@wxb200]

Between 185 & 186 years old?

[@DinushaJayaranga]

😅 190 year and still good with ladies 😬

[@EayuProuxm]

"I have heard him quote often in the paddock, enjoying Emily" That's one way to say it. But I'm sure Emily's enjoying Jonathon too.

[@jannoriko7465]

Long live tye Jonathan!

[@gabrielemathes9848]

erstaunliche tiere. wenn sie sprechen könnten, hätten sie so einiges zu erzählen.

[@Imm23743]

This turtle is older than Canada

[@DumPhuc]

Our country was bought by England from a department store

[@underlying__]

he was around durring WW1 and 2

[@raiwserkoopa2221]

And during the american civil war

[@garyhowtobluetoothjblheadp3583]

To think he could live another 50 or 60 years??

[@samperry5383]

He's lucky to be alive

[@1.4142]

He's 190 years old now!

[@-MochiWochi-]

I just can't tell how far he's gone for to be 190y old or maybe 200.