London
Reports on April Fools’ Day of the dying of the world’s oldest residing land animal — a 193-year-old tortoise known as Jonathan — had been significantly exaggerated.
Jonathan is still kicking — albeit slowly — on the island of St. Helena.
“It was a hoax,” Anne Dillon, head of communications on the island, advised The Associated Press on Thursday. “I can just assure you that he is very much alive.”
News of the Seychelles big tortoise’s demise unfold quickly on social media on Wednesday.
An account on X, falsely claiming to be by Joe Hollins, a veterinarian who had labored with the reptile on the island in the south Atlantic Ocean between Africa and Brazil, stated he was heartbroken to announce the dying of the “gentle giant” that “outlived empires, wars, and generations of humans.”
The put up shortly accrued almost 2 million views by means of Thursday, principally an outpouring of condolences.
But Hollins later stated on Facebook that he didn’t even have an X account and one thing extra sinister was afoot.
“There is a hoax — not even an April Fool — going around,” Hollins wrote. “The hoaxer is asking for crypto donations. It’s a con.”
Guinness World Records lists Jonathan as the oldest residing land animal and the oldest tortoise ever. He was believed to be about 50 years outdated when he was introduced to St. Helena in 1882.
The St. Helena authorities despatched a photograph of Jonathan taken Thursday of him roaming the grounds of the governor’s residence on the island finest known as the place Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled following his defeat by the British at Waterloo in 1815. It was the place the place the former emperor of France died in 1821, a couple of decade earlier than Jonathan is believed to have taken the first steps in what would turn into a very lengthy life.