There’s nothing like adopting some healthy eating habits if you aspire to reach the big 100. Apparently Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise and St Helena Island’s oldest resident didn’t get the memo, because at 183 years old, he’s just taken up some healthy eating habits. Though, since he’s the world’s oldest living land animal, we’ll let him do as he pleases.
Image: BBC
Anything would be considered an upgrade from Jonathan’s old diet, which consisted mostly of leaves, twigs and dirt due to the loss of his eyesight and sense of smell.
Luckily for Jonathan and us (but especially Jonathan), Dr Joe Hollins, a vet on the island where Jonathan lives, noticed how awful a turn his diet and life had taken and immediately put him on a nutritionally dense, high-calorie diet.
Now gone are the days of mud pies and twig brunch’s. Those unfortunate meals have been replaced with bowls of apples, carrots, cucumber, bananas and guava.
Image: BBC
It didn’t take Jonathan long to gain weight back and redevelop his sharp-edged beak after the change, allowing him to be more active and eat more grass.
Here you can see an approximately 50-year-old Jonathan when he first came to the island back in 1882:
Image: Wikipedia
Despite his boost in health, Jonathan is too far past his prime to be used to help repopulate his vulnerable species since the stress of transporting him could be detrimental to his health.
Here’s to another 183 years, Jonathan!
