{"id":508565,"date":"2026-04-02T07:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508565\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T07:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:37:08","slug":"worlds-oldest-tortoise-caught-in-viral-crypto-death-scam-st-helena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508565\/","title":{"rendered":"World\u2019s oldest tortoise caught in viral crypto death scam | St Helena"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 194 years old, Jonathan, the giant tortoise, was a youngster when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne \u2013 and has now lived long enough to fall victim to a crypto scam.<\/p>\n

News outlets including the BBC, Daily Mail and USA Today falsely reported his death after an X account posing as Jonathan\u2019s vet broke the news.<\/p>\n

The post, attributed to \u201cJoe Hollins\u201d, claimed: \u201cHeartbroken to share that our beloved Jonathan, the world\u2019s oldest living land animal, has passed away today peacefully on Saint Helena.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs his vet for many years, it was an honour to care for him \u2013 hand-feeding bananas, watching him bask in the sun and marvelling at his quiet wisdom. He leaves behind a legacy of resilience and longevity that inspired millions. Rest easy, old friend. You\u2019ll be missed more than words can say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vet Joe Hollins with Jonathan. Photograph: Saint Helena\/PA<\/p>\n

Though the post received 2m views and was reported as fact by the UK\u2019s national broadcaster, checks by the Guardian revealed the account was based in Brazil. The real vet, who does not use X, said: \u201cJonathan the tortoise is very much alive. I believe on X the person purporting to be me is asking for crypto donations, so it\u2019s not even an April fool joke. It\u2019s a con.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impostor was indeed asking for cryptocurrency donations at the time the BBC published \u2013 and later retracted<\/a> \u2013 its report.<\/p>\n

Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise, is the world\u2019s oldest known land animal. He has lived on the grounds of the governor\u2019s mansion on Saint Helena, since 1882, when he arrived as a gift to the South Atlantic island.<\/p>\n

Members of the royal family, including King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II (then known as Princess Elizabeth), Princess Margaret, and the Queen Mother (the then Queen Elizabeth) on Saint Helena, meeting Jonathan in 1947. Photograph: Saint Helena\/PA<\/p>\n

Nigel Phillips, the governor, was getting ready for bed on Wednesday night when he was inundated with anxious messages. He got up and searched the grounds to check on the tortoise. \u201cJonathan is asleep under a tree in the paddock,\u201d he told the Guardian, adding that the animal was \u201cvery much alive\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, Phillips joked that Jonathan had issued a press statement: \u201cThe report of my death was an exaggeration \u2026 Mark Twain, not Oscar Wilde. Jonathan would nonetheless have had the chance enjoy both their works in the original first editions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being blind from cataracts and having lost his sense of smell, Jonathan remains hale and hearty with a strong appetite for bananas and a healthy libido \u2013 he tries to mate with two younger tortoises who also reside on the governor\u2019s property.<\/p>\n

A local celebrity, the tortoise has appeared on the reverse of Saint Helena\u2019s 5p coin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 194 years old, Jonathan, the giant tortoise, was a youngster when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":{"0":"post-508565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-unitedkingdom","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}