Four years ago, Joao Pereira de Souza, 71, found a South
American Magellanic penguin covered in oil and starving on a beach
on an island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. A friendship was
born.
Since they met in 2011, the creature, which normally breeds on
the Patagonia coasts of Argentina and Chile, three to five thousand
miles away, has become a faithful companion, swimming every year
from its habitat to spend up to eight months living with the
retired fisherman in his house on the island.
“I love the penguin like it’s my own child and I believe the
penguin loves me,” said Mr Pereira de Souza in an interview
with Globo TV, in which the bird honks with delight as he
recognises his human friend. “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,” said
Mr Pereira who has named the penguin Dindim.
Mr Pereira de Souza believes Dindim formed a bond with him
after he found it stranded on the beach and took him home. Over a
week he cleaned the creature’s tarred feathers in the shower, fed
him a daily diet of fish to improve his strength then took him back
to the sea to let him go.
“But he wouldn’t leave, he stayed with me for 11 months and then
just after he changed his coat with new feathers he disappeared,”
recalled Mr Pereira de Souza. “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.”
Biologist Joao Paulo Krajewski, who interviewed Mr Pereira de
Souza for Globo TV, told The Independent: “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. When he
sees him he wags his tail like a dog and honks with delight.”
Penguins live for about 25 years and are known for their loyalty
to their mates, staying with the same partner until they die.
However, environmentalists warn that, while hundreds of the
Magellanic species are known to naturally migrate thousands of
miles north in search of food, there has been a worrying rise in
the phenomenon of oceanic creatures washing up on Brazil’s beaches.
Between 2010 to 2013, the Humpback Whale Institute in Bahia
recorded more than 180 cases of mammals stranded along the
Brazilian coast.
Professor David Zee, an oceanographer from Rio de Janeiro’s
State University, said the increase is due in part to global
climatic changes.
He explained: “Every year the strong ocean currents from the
Falkland region traps and brings many species of seals, whales,
dolphins, turtles and penguins to the Brazilian coast. This is
becoming more problematic due to environmental changes and the
increasing frequency of el Niño, in which the Pacific Ocean is
warming up for prolonged periods of time.
“The marine creatures get confused and lost as they are dragged
away on the surf from their normal habitat and end up in areas
where they are unable to survive.”
Professor Zee added sea animals face “increased danger with the
ongoing contamination of the oceans with oil and other derivatives”
spilled by oil tankers.
Luckily the ending for Mr Pereira de Souza and Dindim has
been a happy one, even though it is illegal in Brazil to keep wild
animals as pets.
Prof Krajewski said: “Professionals who work with animals try to
avoid relationships like this occurring so they are able to
reintroduce the animal into the wild. But in this isolated case the
authorities allowed Dindim to stay with Joao because of his
kindness.”
“I’m flattered Dindim is happy to exchange his home with
thousands of other penguins every year to find his way here to
spend one-to-one time with me,” said Mr Pereira de Souza. “It’s a
very special relationship.”