Find Out The Facts Behind the Oldest Living Giant Tortoise!

In the age of social media, it is common to come across information that appears believable and reliable. However, there are many times when credible information turns out to be false or misleading. Recently, we came across an image of a giant tortoise that was claimed to be "Jonathan," the oldest living land animal at 191 years old.

Social Media Claim

A Facebook user posted a picture of a giant tortoise with the caption: "Jonathan was born in 1832; he is expected to be 191 this year. This makes it the oldest known land animal today."

Source | Archive

We found that the picture of the giant tortoise has been widely circulated on social media. In addition to the above post, we have come across another post with a similar claim.

"Born in 1832 (5 years prior to the coronation of Queen Victoria), Jonathan the Tortoise is due to turn 190 years old in 2022. That makes him the oldest-known land animal alive today."

Source | Archive

However, we found that the statements in the above picture are not true, as the tortoise in the picture is not a 191-year-old Galapagos turtle.

Fact-Check

We have investigated the information and found that the oldest tortoise, according to the Guinness World Record, is a Seychelles giant tortoise named Jonathan. Jonathan holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest living land animal, having been born in 1832 and reaching the age of 191 in 2023.

guinnessworldrecords | Archive

However, the viral photo featuring a giant tortoise alongside regular-sized tortoises, shared on social media, is not Jonathan. After utilizing the Reverse Image Search feature, we discovered that the image is from the Instagram account of Taronga Zoo, an animal park located in Australia, and was originally posted in 2014 on the zoo's Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/nZpsJNQPk6/

Instagram | Archived

Moreover, AFP Australia reached out to the zoo regarding the viral image. The zoo confirmed that the tortoise in the picture is A11, a 50-year-old Galapagos Tortoise.

Taronga Zoo is famous for breeding Galapagos tortoises, and here is a video of them in this zoo.

Source: Taronga Zoo Sydney

Summary

The post claiming that the tortoise in the picture was Jonathan, a 191-year-old tortoise, is misleading. The tortoise in the picture is A11, a 50-year-old Galapagos tortoise, while Jonathan, the oldest living animal in the world, is a Seychelles giant tortoise.