Nature & Environment

World's oldest living animal is 183 years old

By T.K. Randall
January 9, 2016 ·  11 comments

Jonathan is the oldest known living land animal. Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 David Stanley The long-lived reptile, whose species can be found on an outer island of the Seychelles near Madagascar, has spent most of his life on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.

Historians believe that he was brought there in 1882 as a gift for the British governor of the time and even to this day he can still be found wandering around the grounds of the plantation house.Sadly only a few Aldabra giant tortoises remain in the world today because most of them were wiped out during the 18th and 19th centuries by hunters. These days the species is considered vulnerable to extinction and conservationists have been working hard to preserve what few individuals remain.

As for Johnathan however - he at least is in it for the long-haul. It isn't clear how long he has left to live but there's a good chance that he will be around for a good few years yet.

There's even the possibility that he might still manage to outlive us all.

Source: National Geographic | Comments (11)

Tags: Giant Tortoise