Where does this come from, and can I check it?

The Seychelles giant tortoise lives on St Helena and hatched around 1832. The figure is taken from Guinness World Records, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a records & extremes fact?

Yes. It sits on the Records & Extremes shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Jonathan the tortoise is the oldest living land animal

The Seychelles giant tortoise lives on St Helena and hatched around 1832 Jonathan was brought to the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic in 1882 as a gift, already fully grown, and his age is estimated from that history. In 2024 he was estimated at about 192 years old, having hatched around 1832. He is blind in one eye and has lost his sense of smell, but he still grazes and mates on the governor's lawn. It sits in Mondo's records & extremes collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Guinness World Records

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: tortoises, longevity, st-helena

Jonathan the tortoise is the oldest living land animal: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: The Seychelles giant tortoise lives on St Helena and hatched around 1832. The figure is taken from Guinness World Records, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a records & extremes fact?: Yes. It sits on the Records & Extremes shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.