Animal of the week The world’s oldest turtle turned 190 – still having sex regularly

From 1832 is a small eternity. There was no electric light and the first railways were just being built. Evolution was a twinkling unknown in biology.

Jonnet doesn’t remember. Jonathan remembers the giant tortoise. If only he could tell. It hatched in the Indian Ocean, one of the islands of the Seychelles.

Jonathan now turned 190 years old. It became the world’s oldest known turtle and, in general, the world’s oldest living creature on land.

Birthdays were celebrated on the Atlantic side of the island of Saint Helena, where Jonathan was shipped in 1882. At that time, it was only 50 years of age.

The exact age of Jonathan is unknown, as no one was watching it hatch. However, it has been concluded that it is at least 190 years old.

For the past 140 years, Jonathan has been living in the courtyard of the Governor’s Saint Helena Plantation House. During that time, the island has served 31 governors. Apparently in the 1930s, the then governor named the turtle Jonathan.

Jonathan to spend full retirement days in full care on the governor’s premises. It no longer sees anything or smells anything, but is still eager to have sex with its classmate Emma.

At times, it may also visit Frederik, who roams on the same premises. Turtles are not so accurate about these things.

Frederik was initially thought to be a female and its name was Frederika, but it was later revealed that it is a male. The 54-year-old giant tortoise David also lives there, but it is not involved in the relationship patterns.

Saint Helena has a gender-neutral marriage law.

Because Jonathan doesn’t see or smell, it doesn’t find the food itself, it has to be fed. Jonathan’s favorite foods are cucumbers, cabbage and carrots.

The feeding takes place with the welding gloves in hand, as the blind Jonathan may bite a little there and have very sharp jaws.

Jonathan still has good hearing, and when called upon, it rumbles to the scene. Unless it has better things to do.