The world’s oldest tortoise is starting over with a clean sheet at 184 years old and enjoying his first-ever bath. The tortoise named Jonathan has come out of his shell after centuries of grime were painstakingly scrubbed off his back with a loofah, soft brush, and surgical soap. Dr. Joe Hollins, 58, the vet for the British outpost of St Helena in the south Atlantic where Jonathan lives, decided to bathe him.
Therefore, he prudently scrubbed each of the segments of Jonathan’s shell. He recognized them as scutes and removed black sludge and bird droppings while the tortoise calmly chewed on grass. Hence, surgical soap was selected as it is not caustic, and soft brushes and loofahs were gently used to evade injury to his shell.
It was only after his bath it he realized the rings on his shell, which habitually tell a tortoise’s age, had totally worn away. Jonathan, who is 45 inches long and can stand up to 2 feet tall, arrived on St. Helena as a gift to the governor of the Seychelles.
There was no medical reason for his hour-long soak, but it was done ahead of a visit by an unidentified royal to the small island of St. Helena in May for the dedication of the new airport. However, the spring clean comes months after the giant tortoise, who was aged 50 when he arrived on the historic island in 1882, was placed on a special high-calorie diet as it was feared his health was on the wane.
Dr. Hollins believes it is Jonathan’s first-ever bath. Because in the past, Jonathan’s keepers had a rather laissez-faire attitude toward the tortoises on St Helena, and so this is perhaps his first wash in 184 years. We are trying to give him a good scrub, as we’re supposing a royal visitor is going to meet him, so we want him to look his best.
Furthermore, now Jonathan looks so much cleaner and seems to relish the entire experience. He stood like a statue when I was washing him; even though I don’t know whether that was the vibrations he found soothing or what he was thinking of, I have had my first baths.
Therefore, I just had a bucket of water with some surgical scrub and used the loofah and a little brush and just gradually cleaned him, it was pretty tiring though, but he doesn’t look any younger, but he does look changed.
He is much paler, and you can see the rings on his shell have almost disappeared. The massive tortoise had black deposits on his shell that came from wear and tear. As far as I could see, his shell is in great condition for his age. It is believed that Jonathan’s journey made his way from the Seychelles to the remote island of St. Helena more than a century ago.
So, I’m very hopeful that he won’t have to wait another 185 years before his next bath. In his time on St. Helena, he has seen 28 British governors come and go. Moreover, eight British monarchs, from George IV to Elizabeth II were crowned during his lifetime, and 51 British Prime Ministers have served at 10 Downing Street.
For those keen to see Jonathan luckily plodding around the governor’s house, private tours have been arranged in the past. He at present shares his enclosure with four other giant tortoises: David, Emma, Frederika, and Myrtle. Though he has lost his sense of smell and his eyesight is also dying, he is said to be in good health.
Dr. Hollins has decided to take his loofah to the other tortoises, and some of them are dirtier than their elderly friend Jonathan. However, following the death of Harriet, a 175-year-old giant Galapagos Land tortoise, in 2005 in Australia, Jonathan has been recognized as the world’s oldest living land animal.
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Dr Joe Hollins said that Jonathan - The World's Oldest Tortoise stood as still as a statue during the scrub. He's pictured here dealing with the rear of his shell
Dr. Joe Hollins said that Jonathan – The World’s Oldest Tortoise stood as still as a statue during the scrub. He’s pictured here dealing with the rear of his shell.
He carefully scrubbed each of the segments of Jonathan's shell, known as scutes, and removed black sludge and bird droppings while the tortoise sedately chewed on grass
He carefully scrubbed each of the segments of Jonathan’s shell, known as scutes, and removed black sludge and bird droppings while the tortoise sedately chewed on grass
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
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 were crowned during his lifetime
In the past Jonathan's keepers says they had a rather laissez faire attitude to the tortoises on St Helena and reckon this is probably his first wash in 184 years
In the past, World’s Oldest Tortoise keepers say they had a rather laissez-faire attitude to the tortoises on St Helena and reckon this is probably his first wash in 184 years
Jonathan the giant tortoise has come out of his shell after centuries of grime were painstakingly scrubbed off his back
Jonathan World’s Oldest Tortoise the giant animal has come out of his shell after centuries of grime were painstakingly scrubbed off his back
Jonathan, who is 45ins long and can stand up to 2ft tall, arrived on St Helena as a gift to the governor from the Seychelles in the late 19th century
Jonathan, World’s Oldest Tortoise who is 45ins long and can stand up to 2ft tall, arrived on St Helena as a gift to the governor of Seychelles in the late 19th century
Surgical soap was chosen as it is not caustic and soft brushes and a loofah were gently used to avoid damaging his shell
Surgical soap was chosen as it is not caustic and soft brushes and a loofah were gently used to avoid damaging his shell
The spring clean comes months after Jonathan, who was aged 50 when he arrived on the historic isle in 1882, was placed on a special high calorie diet as it was feared his health was on the wane
The spring clean comes months after Jonathan, who was aged 50 when he arrived on the historic isle in 1882, was placed on a special high-calorie diet as it was feared his health was on the wane
The world's oldest living animal is starting over with a clean sheet at 184 years old - after a vet gave him his first ever bath
The world’s oldest tortoise is starting over with a clean sheet at 184 years old – after a vet gave him his first-ever bath. 

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