Penguin Travels Five Thousand Miles Every Year To See The Man Who Saved It

https://youtu.be/fEFCz5Q7c0M

Joao Pereira de Souza is a part time fisherman following his retirement from bricklaying. He lives on a village on an Island close to Rio de Janeiro and about five years ago he discovered a penguin lying on the rocks at the beach covered in oil that was dying. So Mr. De Souza did something remarkable he picked up the bird, cleaned the oil from its feathers and fed it daily so it could recover its strength. He even named the bird Dindim and after about a week of recuperation, the fisherman went to release the bird back into the sea.

The penguin stayed

A funny thing happened when he tried to do that, the penguin did not leave. Mr. De Souza said the bird remained with him for 11 months and then just after his coat had been renewed with new feathers, the penguin disappeared. A few months later the penguin came back. That was in 2011 and every year since the bird returns to see the man who saved it from certain death, creating an everlasting bond in the process.

 “I love the penguin like it’s my own child and I believe the penguin loves me. No one else is allowed to touch him. He pecks them if they do. He lays on my lap, lets me give him showers, allows me to feed him sardines and to pick him up.”

“Everyone said he wouldn’t return, but he has been coming back to visit me for the past four years. He arrives in June and leaves to go home in February and every year he becomes more affectionate as he appears even happier to see me.”

5000 mile journey

The penguin spends eight months of the year with Mr. De Souza and the remaining four months it heads to the coast of Argentina and Chile which is a round trip of 5,000 miles. According to Joao Paulo Krajewski, a biologist, nothing like this has ever been seen before and he thinks the penguin believes Joao is part of his family and probably a penguin. In Brazil it is against the law to keep wild animals as pets, but in this case, authorities have made an exception.