9 Animals Who Exceeded Their Lifespan And Lived Many Long Happy Years

This female, who was originally from the Galapagos Islands, was famous for being almost 176 years old. Harriet was born sometime in November 1830. Some people believed that Harriet was male when they first found her, so she was called Harry until scientists figured out her real gender. It has also been said that Harriet was discovered by the famous biologist Charles Darwin in 1835, although it was later found to be endemic to a region of the islands he never visited. Harriet lived in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens for 99 years before being brought to the Australian Zoo owned by Steve Irwin, better known as The Crocodile Hunter. It was Harriet's last home before she passed away in June 2006.

A team of researchers from the University of Bangor, Wales, discovered the age of this clam after it was caught in Icelandic waters in 2006. They had to perform dendrochronological analysis, which is very popular for determining the age of trees or animals by counting the rings on their shell, cut, etc. Ming takes its name from the Chinese Ming Dynasty, which ruled China in 1499, the year the clam was born. This means that he was 507 years old.

This blue and gold macaw first became famous in 2004 because its owner, Peter Oram, claimed that Charlie was at least 100 years old. Charlie was said to have been born around 1899, and Peter Oram even claimed that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill owned him for a time. Although the latter have been denied by people close to Churchill, Charlie lived to be about 114 years old, the last year of which was spent at a pet kennel in Heathfield, Surrey, UK.

Also known as J2, some researchers believe that the grandmother was born around 1911, while some with more conservative methods claim that she was closer to 1960. J2 had a very specific characteristic: a gray patch on the back of its dorsal fin. In 1967, she was captured along with a group of killer whales, but the catchers thought she was too old to be kept in a zoo or water park. If it is true that she lived to be 105 years old, that would make her the longest-lived killer whale.

This elephant, which belonged to the Asian elephant family, was born in 1917 and even served in the Chinese and Japanese armies from 1937 to 1945 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, in World War II. After that, Lin Wang was sent to a nature reserve in China, and then in 1952 to the Taipei Zoo in Taiwan, where he became an integral part of the city. He made friends with his guardians and lived happily until 2003. Due to his incredibly good physical condition, Lin Wang lived almost two decades longer than the average Asian elephant, which has a life expectancy of about 70 years.

This tortoise from Madagascar lived for many years and became one of the oldest representatives of its kind. In 1777, English explorer James Cook brought Tui Malila back to Tonga as a gift for the royal family. Tui Malila lived in the palace gardens for 188 years before she died of natural causes in May 1966. Queen Elizabeth II was just one of many celebrities in a long list of people who got to know the friendly Tui. Malila.

Few animals enjoy being the center of attention and becoming such a celebrity as Poncho is, the parrot you can recognize from several movies. He appeared in 102 Dalmatians, Ace Ventura and Dr. Dolittle (1998). After his brief but stressful time in Hollywood, Poncho went to a pet shop in Shrewsbury, a city in the United Kingdom where he was cared for until he passed away in 2018 after turning 93.

Without a doubt, tortoises are known for their longevity and another example of this is Jonathan of the giant tortoise species of the Seychelles. Jonathan is believed to have been born around 1832 in the Seychelles. When he turned 50, Jonathan was taken to Saint Helena, where he has lived ever since in the governor's office. One of his caretakers said he was still fit and eating normally, playing with other turtles of his kind, and roaming the fields freely for long sunbaths.

Although the name of this spider is far from common, number 16, Gaius villosus, got its name from a study done in Australia by arachnologist Barbara York Main. Year after year, Dr. York Main studied Number 16's behavior after her nest was destroyed by a wasp that hunted spiders. These wasps inject larvae into the spiders' bodies to serve as a nest and food when the eggs hatch. Despite the attack, number 16 lived from 1974 to 2016 until he passed away at the age of 43, most likely due to the effects of a wasp sting.