2011, Joao Pereira de Souza, a 71-year-old retired bricklayer and part time fisherman, accidentally found a South American Magellanic penguin covered in oil and near death on a beach on an island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Joao Pereira de Souza brought the penguin home and nursed it back to health, from then on, every year, the little creature named Dindim swims from habitat around 8000km away, the Patagonia coasts of Argentina and Chile, to live with its saviour for 8 months. “I love the penguin like it’s my own child and I believe the penguin loves me. When he sees him he wags his tail like a dog and honks with delight.” In an interview the old fisherman told Globo TV. “No one else is allowed to touch him. He pecks them if they do. He lies on my lap, lets me give him showers, allows me to feed him sardines and to pick him up.” Krajewski, a Biologist Professor, said, “I have never seen anything like this before. I think the penguin believes Joao is part of his family and probably a penguin as well.”
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