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Jonathan, a giant tortoise on the island of St Helena, hatched around 1832, which makes him the oldest known living land animal. He was already an adult when the telephone was invented, and he still lives on the lawn of the governor's house.

St Helena

NatureHistory

The story behind the card

Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise, was brought to St Helena in 1882 as a gift, already fully grown. A photograph taken in 1886 shows him mature, which is why his hatching is put at around 1832, before the first photograph of a person and before Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Since arriving he has lived through the terms of more than 30 governors and the reigns of seven British monarchs. Now blind and without a sense of smell, he is fed by hand. In April 2026 the St Helena government had to confirm he was alive after a fake social media account announced his death. He appears on the reverse of the St Helena five-pence coin.

Türkçe oku
Saint Helena Adası'nda yaşayan dev kaplumbağa Jonathan yaklaşık 1832'de yumurtadan çıktı ve bilinen, yaşayan en yaşlı kara hayvanı sayılıyor. Telefon icat edildiğinde çoktan yetişkindi; bugün hâlâ valinin konağının bahçesinde yaşıyor.
Saint Helena

Seyşeller dev kaplumbağası türünden Jonathan, 1882'de Saint Helena'ya armağan olarak getirildi ve o sırada çoktan tam boyuna ulaşmıştı. 1886'da çekilmiş bir fotoğrafta da yetişkin görünüyor; yumurtadan çıkışının yaklaşık 1832 olarak hesaplanması buna dayanıyor. Bu da onu bir insanın çekilmiş ilk fotoğrafından da, Darwin'in Türlerin Kökeni'nden de yaşlı kılıyor. Adaya geldiğinden beri otuzdan fazla vali ve yedi İngiliz hükümdarı gördü. Artık görmüyor, koku da alamıyor; elle besleniyor. Nisan 2026'da sahte bir sosyal medya hesabı öldüğünü duyurunca Saint Helena hükûmeti, Jonathan'ın yaşadığını açıklamak zorunda kaldı. Saint Helena'nın 5 penilik madeni parasının arka yüzünde onun resmi var.

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Background reading: Jonathan (tortoise)
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