It Was a Hoax: Jonathan, the World’s Oldest Tortoise, Is Still ‘Alive and Well’

Jonathan the tortoise, believed to be the world’s oldest living land animal, is still with us at 193 years old, contrary to a spurious, and possibly scammy, social media post and a flurry of news outlets mistakenly reporting his death.

On Wednesday, an X account purporting to be Joe Hollins, the veterinarian who cares for Jonathan, made a post that claimed the giant tortoise had died.

But after the post gained attention as media outlets cited it, the Guardian flagged it as a hoax. The UK publication reported that the X account originated in Brazil, rather than St. Helena Island in the South Atlantic, where both Jonathan and Hollins reside. 

The real Joe Hollins told USA Today that Jonathan “is very much alive.” There was apparently an underlying motivation for the post, Hollins said. “I believe on X, the person purporting to be me is asking for crypto donations, so it’s not even an April Fool joke. It’s a con.” 

CNET didn’t see the request for crypto donations. If this was in fact a crypto scam, it’s far from an isolated case. The FBI’s most recent annual Internet Crime Report stated that cryptocurrency investment fraud resulted in more than $6.5 billion in losses in 2024 alone.

It is unclear how many, if any, crypto donations might have been made in connection with the death hoax. On Thursday, the official Guinness World Records account on X shared a new video of Jonathan snacking on bananas as further proof of life. 

Numerous outlets, including the BBC and USA Today, issued corrections after publishing the false news.