The Penguin Traveling to Brazil to See Mr. D'Souza

In 2011, a Brazilian man found a hungry Magellanic penguin covered in oil near his home on an island close to Rio de Janeiro. 71-year-old João Pereira D'Souza cleaned the penguin and fed it, marking the beginning of an extraordinary friendship. D'Souza released the penguin into the wild, but was astonished to see it again near his home a few months later, seemingly having followed him back. According to the Wall Street Journal, this penguin travels over three thousand kilometers every spring after mating in the Patagonia islands of southern Brazil and Chile to return to its newfound friend. D'Souza, a retired brick kiln worker, named the penguin Jing Jing and says he loves it. 'It feels like one of my own kids. I think it loves me a lot too.' D'Souza told a television network that no one but him is allowed to touch Jing Jing. If anyone else approaches, Jing Jing pecks them. 'It sits on my feet and lets me bathe it. I feed it sardines and lift it off the ground.' Magellanic penguins are found near Antarctica and are among the endangered species. Although penguins from the South have come to Brazil before, only a few have reached the northern parts of the country, close to Rio de Janeiro. A local fisherman told the Wall Street Journal that the interesting thing is that this penguin might stay here for weeks, but then one day it goes back to the sea and returns south, only to come back to the same house on the island. A biologist who interviewed D'Souza said he had never seen such a connection between a human and a penguin. He stated, 'It seems Jing Jing thinks its friend is also a penguin and probably one of its family members. When it sees D'Souza, it wags its tail like a dog does for its owner.'