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Jonathan the tortoise, world's oldest known land animal, dies aged 193

BBC News · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · · 318 words · By Anna Lamche
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What to know about Jonathan the tortoise, world's oldest known land animal, dies aged 193

World's oldest known tortoise, Jonathan, dies aged 193 The world's oldest known tortoise, Jonathan, has died at an estimated age of 193, the vet who cared for him has said.

Claims checked 10
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center80%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

World's oldest known tortoise, Jonathan, dies aged 193 The world's oldest known tortoise, Jonathan, has died at an estimated age of 193, the vet who cared for him has said.

Why it matters

"Heartbroken to share that our beloved Jonathan, the world's oldest living land animal, has passed away today peacefully on St Helena", Joe Hollins wrote on social media late on Wednesday.

Common ground

"This gentle giant outlived empires, wars, and generations of humans," Hollins said of his long-time charge, who is thought to have hatched around the year 1832.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c393xmpzjwko?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 7
verified Verified By Reference 3
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Claim 1: “Although Jonathan had lost his sense of smell and his sight, he still appeared to be very happy and healthy”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No sources were identified to support or refute the claim about specific events.
help
Claim 2: “Jonathan met Sir Lindsay in 2024, when he was presented with a Guinness World Record certificate recognising him as the oldest known land animal in the world”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found to validate or challenge the claim about a web search result.
verified
Claim 3: “Jonathan is thought to have hatched around the year 1832”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia directly states Jonathan the tortoise hatched around 1832, matching the claim's assertion.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jonathan (hatched c. 1832) is a Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa), a subspecies of the Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea). His age is estimated to be 193 as of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_(tortoise)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 1832 (MDCCCXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 1832nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) de…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1832
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton is an essay written in 1737 by Jonathan Edwards about the process of Christian conversion in N…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Faithful_Narrative_of_the_Su…
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Claim 4: “Jonathan lived through the reigns of eight British monarchs”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found to confirm or dispute the claim about historical events.
help
Claim 5: “He spent most of his life on the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No relevant sources were found to corroborate or contradict the claim about St Helena's connection to Jonathan.
help
Claim 6: “Experts say this suggests he was about 50 years old by that time”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No sources were identified to validate or challenge the claim about specific counter-evidence.
verified
Claim 7: “Jonathan, the world's oldest living land animal, has passed away today peacefully on St Helena”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia confirms Jonathan the tortoise resides on St Helena, aligning with the claim about his death location.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jonathan (hatched c. 1832) is a Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa), a subspecies of the Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea). His age is estimated to be 193 as of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_(tortoise)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Saint Helena (, US: ; US: ) is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, west of the mainland of the continent of Africa, with the Southern African nations of Angola and Na…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Helena
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Saint Helena pound is the currency of the Atlantic islands of Saint Helena and Ascension, which are constituent parts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Helena_pound
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Claim 8: “Jonathan met both George VI and the future Elizabeth II during their visit to the island in 1947”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No sources were identified to support or refute the claim about specific events.
help
Claim 9: “Jonathan's exact age is unknown, but a photograph taken in 1882 shows that he was fully grown when he was first brought to the island”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found to support or refute the claim about a web search result.
verified
Claim 10: “The world's oldest known tortoise, Jonathan, has died at an estimated age of 193”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia explicitly states Jonathan the tortoise's age is estimated at 193 as of 2026, confirming the claim through an authoritative reference.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jonathan (hatched c. 1832) is a Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa), a subspecies of the Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea). His age is estimated to be 193 as of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_(tortoise)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jonathan David Haidt ( HYTE; born October 19, 1963) is an American social psychologist and author. He is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at the New York University Stern School of Bu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Haidt
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — All 193 member states and 2 General Assembly non-member observer states of the United Nations, in addition to several de facto states, represent themselves with national flags. National flags generall…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_flags_of_sove…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.