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Jonathan the giant tortoise gets new lease of life aged 183

The world's oldest living animal has been given a new lease of life after a vet put him on a healthy diet - at the age of 183.

PUBLISHED: 14:40, Thu, Jan 7, 2016 | UPDATED: 14:54, Thu, Jan 7, 2016

Jonathan the giant tortoise is the world's oldest living animal

It was feared Jonathan the giant tortoise was on his last legs after his health seriously declined due to losing his eyesight and sense of smell.
The afflictions meant Jonathan, who lives on the British outpost of St Helena Island, was left grabbing at insubstantial twigs, leaves and dirt for food.
His plight was spotted by the island's vet, Dr Joe Hollins, who immediately put him on a high-calorie and nutritious diet of a bowl of apples, carrots, cucumber, bananas and guava.
Since the change Jonathan has started coming back out of his shell again. He has gained weight, redeveloped his sharp-edged beak to help him eat grass and become more active.
The famous reptile can be seen happily plodding the grounds of Plantation House, the home of the governor of St Helena where he has lived since coming to the island in 1882.

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Jonathan was approximately 50 years old when he arrived on the small island in the south Atlantic from the Seychelles in the 19th century.
Following the death of Harriet, a 175-year-old giant Galapagos Land tortoise, in 2005 in Australia, Jonathan has been recognised as the world's oldest living land animal.
And with his new diet experts say there is no reason why he can't go on to reach his double hundred and more.
Despite his improvement in health Jonathan is too old to be used for a breeding programme to help boost the numbers of the vulnerable Seychelles giant tortoise.
It is thought the stress of transporting him to the archipelago in the Indian Ocean would be too much for him let alone the rise in blood pressure from a lustful liaison with a female.

Jonathan started coming back out of his shell again after he started the nutritious diet

 

Eight British monarchs from George IV to Elizabeth II have been crowned during his lifetime

He has put on weight and is a lot more active

Dr Hollins

Dr Hollins said: "Jonathan has become almost completely blind due to cataracts and has lost his sense of smell. He was just grabbing at food and ended up chomping on twigs which blunted his beak.
"He lost weight because of his nutritional deficiencies. I changed his diet and started to give him a mixed bowl of fruit and vegetables like apples, carrots, lettuce, guavas and bananas which are very high in calories.
"Since then his life has been transformed. He has put on weight and is a lot more active and is walking more than he used to.
"He has more fat cover which will help him in the winter and has good nail growth.
"The life expectancy of a giant tortoise is 150 but there is no reason why Jonathan won't still be here after we have all gone."
Jonathan was a gift to the governor of St Helena from the Seychelles in the late 19th century but he wasn't given the name until the 1930s by governor Sir Spencer Davis.

 

Jonathan currently shares his enclosure with four other giant tortoises

In his time on St Helena he has seen 28 British governors come and go.
Eight British monarchs from George IV to Elizabeth II have been crowned during his lifetime and 51 British Prime Ministers have served at 10 Downing Street.
He currently shares his enclosure with four other giant tortoises; David, Emma, Frederika and Myrtle.
Dr Hollins, 58, said in his five years on St Helena he has never seen Jonathan get amorous with the three females, preferring to leave that to David who is many years his junior.
St Helena, in the south Atlantic, was chosen as the place of Emperor Napoleon's second exile and the French dictator died there in 1821.