ALAMY Jonathan the giant tortoise is the most famous tortoise in the world

Not only that he is believed to be the oldest. And now the government of St Helena, one of the most remote islands in the world, is capitalising on both these facts in a bid to put the British Overseas Territory (population 4,534) firmly on the map. At the most conservative estimate Jonathan is believed to have been born in 1832 which makes him nearly 186 years old. This fact also makes the venerable tortoise a worthy tourist attraction on a windy volcanic island 1,200 miles off the coast of southern Africa where Napoleon Bonaparte died in May 1821 and which had just 3,200 visitors in 2013, all of whom arrived by sea. In May the island’s first airport opened and six days ago the first scheduled flights began between St Helena and Johannesburg, South Africa, so he can expect a few more visitors.

REX Jonathan was already 70 during the Boer War

When he comes forward to get his feed he gets quite a turn of speed on Joe Hollins

Given his celebrity status, the vast majority of island tourist posters feature Jonathan, who is believed by many locals to be the oldest known living reptile on Earth, but definitely not the fastest. “When he comes forward to get his feed he gets quite a turn of speed on. I imagine between 0.5-1mph,” says island vet Joe Hollins. Jonathan has quite a following with his own pages on Facebook and Wikipedia. In 2014 he featured in an episode of Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent and is even on the reverse of the local 5p coin. However all is not quite what it seems in his soporific world. It has recently emerged that the female giant tortoise he has been wooing for the past 26 years “is not the Frederica he loved but Frederic” as one report succinctly puts it.

NC Taking his first-ever bath last year

This startling discovery came to light when Frederica was taken for repairs to a lesion on her shell and island vet Catherine Man discovered that there was more going on under it than anticipated. Jonathan and Frederic/a became smitten in 1991 when the French consul, guardian of Longwood – Napoleon’s final home – decided that the island tortoise needed attention of the type the locals were unable to provide. Jonathan had a reputation for upsetting games of croquet on the lawn in front of Plantation House, the official residence of the Governor of St Helena, where he wanders freely, and action had to be taken. It was then that the French consul provided Frederica as a distraction but now it is clear why no baby tortoises have resulted from their intimacies – a fact that had continued to baffle Jonathan’s fans.

GETTY At the historic home St. Helenas governor

Jonathan, who measures 48 inches from tip to tail, was brought to the island from the Seychelles in 1882 at about 50 years of age and named in the 1930s by Governor Sir Spencer Davis. His probable age is estimated from the fact that he was said to be “fully mature” when he arrived on the island. Evidence of his longevity first came to light after an old photograph taken in 1900 showed the tortoise munching on grass with a Boar War prisoner and a guard standing next to it. Since then Jonathan’s advanced years have earned him special privileges. In March last year he was given his first-ever bath as ancient grime was gently scrubbed off his shell with a loofah ahead of a visit by an unnamed royal for the dedication of the new airport. Giant tortoises are said to be creatures of habit who eat at set times and who like to doze in the long grass every afternoon. And this is just as it should be for a revered tortoise who has cataracts and no sense of smell. What Jonathan is said to have, however, is excellent hearing. One wonders what he will make of the new weekly airline service flying in to puncture the calm of his island paradise. Perhaps it will coax him out of his shell…

The tortoise who saw it all ● When Jonathan was born in 1832 William IV was king. Queen Victoria, who was 13, would not accede to the throne until the tortoise was fi ve. ● Lewis Carroll was born in January 1832 (Alice In Wonderland was published when Jonathan was 33) and fellow novelist Sir Walter Scott died later that year. ● When Jonathan was two Britain abolished slavery. When he was nine missionary and explorer David Livingstone sailed for Africa, discovering a spectacular waterfall he named Victoria Falls when the giant tortoise was 23. When Jonathan was 10 the Mines Act was passed forbidding women and children to work underground.

Giant tortoises at London Zoo Thu, July 16, 2009 Play slideshow 1 of 7 The 70-year-old tortoise makes himself at home at London Zoo