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187-year-old turtle Jonathan will remind you that ‘everything will pass’ amid coronavirus outbreak
This animal has lived through both the World Wars, the Russian Revolution, and changing of 39 US presidents as well as seven British monarchs. It will also live through coronavirus, which is just the type of happy news we’re here for!
It is time for good news amidst the cloud of tension that has been spreading across the globe due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Parveen Kaswan, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, posted this picture on Twitter on March 18. The photo showcases the oldest known living terrestrial animal in the world, a turtle called Jonathan. The 187-year-old animal has lived through both the World Wars, the Russian Revolution, and changing of 39 US presidents as well as seven British monarchs. Kaswan’s tweet classified Jonathan the tortoise as the face of “everything will pass”, maybe to remind us that the cloud of Covid-19 will eventually clear out as well!
The tweet currently has over 1,200 retweets as well as almost 70 comments and 5,000 likes.
Tweeple appreciated this little ray of cuteness amidst the darkness of disease and responded positively on the microblogging application.
One Twitter user hilariously asked “how did he do it?!! How did he survive us? Put him on TED talks”. While another commented on the thread, “I am proud of our environment”.
This comment may remind you of the classic ‘the Tortoise and the Hare’ as it reads, “trick is to take it slow”. This is also good advice for all of us as we start spending more time indoors due to social distancing and partake in more laid-back pastimes.
“He has seen everything”, said one Twitter user about the omniscient nature of such a longitudinal life. While another reinforced the silver lining Kaswan was originally trying to highlight by stating, “yes everything will pass”.
Here are some other responses:
We hope Jonathan’s still very youthful appearance entertains and motivates you, all the same. His existence is proof of the persevering nature of life. Something we all ought to remember and embody in these trying times. We hope you’re channelling some turtle spirit today!
