The old Brazilian man & the penguin: a tale of friendship between species

Deep friendships between man and animals have long been documented, particular with dogs, cats, birds and other domesticated pets. However, an unusual bond between a 71-year-old Brazilian man and a penguin he rescued brings interspecies friendship to a new level.

Joao Pereira de Souza, a part-time fisherman and retired bricklayer, found a baby South American Magellanic penguin in a beach near Rio de Janeiro in 2011. The animal was covered in oil and near death as it lay on rocks.

He cleaned the oil off the penguin and nursed it back to health, feeding it daily with fish. He named the male penguin Dindim. After one week, when de Souza believed Dindim was strong enough, he brought the penguin to the sea to set it free, but the bird refused and stayed with him for the next 11 months.

Then when Dindim had a change of feathers, he left de Souza. After a few months, when the fisherman was on the beach, the penguin saw him and followed de Souza home.

Over the next five year, Dindim stayed with him for eight months, arriving in June and leaving in February, and then following his nature, leaves de Souza so he could breed with female penguins off Argentina and Chile coasts, reports Metro. To return to his friend, the penguin is believed to swim up to 5,000 miles a year.

In Ask.MetaFiler, an Internet forum, there was a question on human-penguin interaction. Bshort writes that based on his encounter with penguins, the animals are not so bothered by humans but would shy away if a person comes within five metres. “They are less bothered if you sit on the ground so the height difference is less. I imagine the greater the isolation of the colony the less bothered they are by humans,” he adds.

De Souza shares that beside him, no one else could touch the penguin. Otherwise, Dindim pecks them. But with the old man, Dindim lays on his lap, lets de Souza shower him, feed him sardines or pick him up. “I love the penguin like it’s my own child and I believe the penguin loves me,” Globo TV quotes de Souza.

A biology professor, who interviewed de Souza for Globo TV , explains that Dindim believes de Souza is part of his family and sees him as a penguin. He notes that the penguin honks to show his affection for de Souza and wags his tail like a dog. He’s also jealous and does not allow other animals to get close to de Souza.