Jonathan

Direct evidence supporting his estimated age came to light when an old photograph taken between 1882 and 1886 was uncovered that showed a fully grown Jonathan munching on grass with several local "St Helenians" in the garden of Plantation – the residence of the island's governor and where Jonathan resides to this day. Jonathan's health had deteriorated markedly by around 2009; he was thin and his beak had become soft and crumbly. But Joe Hollins, a vet who was then Jonathan's primary carer, helped him recover. He told GWR: "I began to feed him once weekly with fruit and vegetables to boost his calory intake... Much to my surprise, this once weekly feeding rejuvenated him and gave him back a sharp grazing beak, whereupon I realized, of course, that through lack of nutrition he was deficient in minerals, vitamins and trace elements." Having studied Jonathan's shell, some experts have suggested that he may belong to a separate species, or subspecies, of Seychelles tortoise though this debate has yet to be settled conclusively. Jonathan has lived through many major events in modern-day history. When he was born in 1832, William IV was Britain's king. Queen Victoria, who was 13, would not accede to the throne until Jonathan was five. When Jonathan was two, Britain abolished slavery. When he was nine, missionary and explorer David Livingstone sailed for Africa, discovering a spectacular waterfall that he named Victoria Falls when the giant tortoise was 23. Lewis Carroll's beloved children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1865 when Jonathan was 33. It wasn’t until Jonathan was 35 that antiseptics were first used during surgery, and it wasn’t until he was 71 that the women’s suffrage movement was formed, three years after the turn of the 20th century.