The world’s oldest living land animal, a giant tortoise named Jonathan, has become the unlikely centre of a viral crypto scam after a fake social media post falsely claimed he had died. The post spread rapidly across X on April 1, prompting an outpouring of grief before being exposed as a calculated attempt to solicit cryptocurrency donations. Jonathan is alive and well on the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.

Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise believed to be around 193 years old, has lived at the governor’s residence on Saint Helena since the late 1800s. He is officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living land animal and has become a symbol of longevity and…