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
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