Wildlife and man have been at crossroads for ages, a couple of species of animals have been termed endangered by wildlife experts due to the constant hunt of various animals However, love for wildlife still exists, reportedly in Brazil a South American Magellanic penguin swims 5000 miles each year to meet up with the man that once saved his life.
A couple of years ago, precisely in the year 2011 the little penguin was found by Joao Pereira de Souza , a 71-year-old fisherman on the beach in an island village close to Rio Janeiro, Brazil, he found the penguin covered in oil and dying, he cleaned the oil off the penguin, daily fed him and named him Dindim.
The penguin became more than just an animal to Joao, the penguin became part of his family and got so accustomed to Joao’s show of affection, it refused to be let back into the water after it became well. Although after a while he did go his way, Joao said ‘’He stayed with me for 11 months and then after he changed his coat with new feathers, he disappeared ‘’.
After a few months, later little Dindim came back to the beach to meet with Joao and spent more months with him in his home. This has constantly been the penguin’s routine for years now. Reportedly, Over a period of five years, the penguin had spent eight months of the year with Joao and is said to spend the rest of the year breeding off the coast of Chile and Argentina.
In Globo TV’s interview with Joao, he claims ‘’I love the penguin like it’s my own child and I believe the penguin loves me too………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’’.
The affection between Joao and the penguin is one that no one would have thought could exist considering the history of man and wildlife since the beginning of time. The relationship between these two has attracted the attention of many across the island including wildlife experts, Professor Krajewski a biologist in his interview with Globo TV, said that ‘’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. And just like that, the world seems a kinder place’’.
This show of affection can only be described as love, and undiluted, pure and limitless one with no regard for one’s species or habitat. Joao and the penguin’s love life shows that man and wildlife can live as one.
