| schema:text
| - Fact Check: This is not Jonathan the tortoise, world's oldest living animal
A picture of a Galapagos tortoise is doing the rounds on social media with the false claim that it is Jonathan the tortoise – the oldest living animal on the planet today.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
The 189-year-old Jonathan, a Seychelles tortoise living on St. Helena island, is indeed the world’s oldest animal alive. But this picture is of a Galapagos tortoise at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Australia.
He has lived through two world wars, the Russian Revolution, seven monarchs on the British throne and 39 United States presidents. He has seen them all in his lifetime. He is Jonathan the tortoise the oldest living animal on the planet today.
Now, multiple Facebook users have posted the picture of a large tortoise, claiming that this is Jonathan, which will turn 190 next year. “Born in 1832, Jonathan the Turtle is expected to turn 190 in 2022. This makes him the oldest known land animal alive,” reads the text superimposed on the picture.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the 189-year-old Jonathan, a Seychelles tortoise living on St Helena island on South Atlantic Ocean is indeed the world’s oldest animal alive. But the tortoise seen in the viral post is not Jonathan. It is a Galapagos tortoise at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Australia.
The archived version of the post is saved here.
What AFWA found
Using reverse image search, we found the viral picture on the Instagram account of Taronga Zoo, posted on April 30, 2014.
The Instagram post reads, “Taronga Western Plains Zoo has continued its Galapagos Tortoise breeding success, welcoming two new hatchlings! The hatchlings will take 20-25 years to reach their full size and may live up to 150 years! Our photo shows the tiny pair next to three-year-old hatchling, NJ and one of our adult males.”
International fact-check website “Check Your Fact” has spoken to a Taronga Zoo spokesperson who confirmed that the viral picture is of a “male tortoise in his fifties”.
Jonathan the tortoise
According to Guinness World Records, Jonathan, the 189-year-old tortoise is the oldest animal on earth. As per records, he was born in 1832, five years before the coronation of Queen Victoria.
Although the tortoise is originally from Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, it has been residing on the remote island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic since 1882.
Therefore, it is true that Jonathan, the oldest animal, will turn 190 next year, but the tortoise in the viral post is not him.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)