DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
A photograph of Jonathan at Plantation House on Saint Helena on 11th April 2021. PICTURE: Xben911 (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)
• A tortoise on the remote Atlantic island of Saint Helena which was previously declared the world’s oldest living land animal has now been awarded a second title – the oldest tortoise ever. Guinness World Records said Jonathan, who will turn 190 this year, has been awarded the official title of world’s oldest ever chelonian – a category which encompasses turtles, terrapins and tortoises. The island’s government said the tortoise, who is believed to have been born in 1832, had weathered winter well but was being fed by hand because he was blind and has no sense of smell. “His hearing though is excellent and he loves the company of humans, and responds well to his vet Joe Hollins’ voice as he associates him with a feast,” the government added in an update seen by Guinness. The previous oldest ever chelonian was Tu’i Malila, a radiated tortoise that lived to be at least 188. Tu’i Malila was presented to the royal family of Tonga by Captain Cook in about 1777 and remained in their care until its death in 1965. Jonathan has already been featured on Saint Helena stamps.
• Motorists no doubt looked twice at a truck travelling down a Tennessee highway recently – it was carrying a 6,500 kilogram cast iron skillet. The skillet, said to be the world’s largest, was created as a tourist attraction by South Pittsburg’s Lodge Cast Iron store, the future home of the Lodge Cast Iron Museum, which is expected to open later this year. The store published a video of the skillet’s journey along I-59 on Facebook (see above).
• It’s your chance to snare a piece of New York history. A retired Staten Island ferry, the John F Kennedy, is being auctioned with a reduced starting price of just $US125,000 after failing to sell for the initial asking price of $US250,000. The auction, which ends at 5pm on Wednesday (US time), had already attracted 18 bids with a price at $US140,100 when Sight looked. The double-ended ferry, which was in service for about 50 years, is “in poor condition and had to be decommissioned due to mechanical issues”, the listing reports, noting that the mechanical issues are on the propulsion end.
Correction: The date of Jonathan’s birth has been corrected to 1832.
