Furry, fuzzy, scaled, friendly, cold: these are all words you might use to describe that special friend that resides in your house. Animals come in all shapes and sizes and whether domesticated or wild, humans have been forming bonds with animals since the dawn of time. Though many of these animals live much shorter lives than humans, some of them never seem to die and continue fighting the good fight for many years to come. While some of these animals have actually died since breaking their respective records, here are some of the oldest animals to have lived on this great planet.
While not one of the oldest animals in general, it makes sense to start out the list by looking at some of man’s closest partners in crime. Specifically, the dog is often called “man’s best friend,” and if your dog lived to be 30 years old, it would make sense that she would earn that title. A Kelpie from Woolsthorpe, Australia, Maggie reached the age of 30, just beating the previous record for oldest dog and taking that with her to the grave.
Still living to this day as a testament to the superiority of cats, Scooter is the oldest cat alive and has passed that 30-year mark. A Siamese cat hailing from Texas, he is actually the second oldest cat on record, with the all-time holder hitting a mark of 38 years; oh, and that cat was from Texas too. Everything might not be bigger there, but apparently cats live longer.
If you have ever had an interest in animals throughout your life, you already know that tortoises can live for extreme lengths of time, so it shouldn’t come as a shock that one would make it on this list. In this case, Jonathan is the oldest living tortoise around and it is believed he was born back in 1832. Owned by the government of Saint Helena, this wise old reptile must have seen his share of things in life. After all, he was born over 180 years ago. While some believe there have been older tortoises, Jonathan maintains his title as the oldest living one around.
While tortoises might be well-known for their age, you might not have heard before, but Bowhead whales are also known to live for quite a long time. In fact, the oldest living bowhead was 211 years, which makes it quite old. Like certain types of tortoise, these whales are also known for having an average life span that outreaches humans. Beyond the age of any single whale, it is also believed by some scientists that, as a species, the Bowhead whale is one of the oldest still living today.