This Cute Penguin Swims 5,000 Miles Every Year To Reunite With The Man Who Saved His Life

Once you help an animal, it will never forget the profound love you shared with it. We think that animals don’t take notice, but they do; in their own way.

71-years-old Joao Pereira de Souza had no idea that his love and nurture for an injured penguin (who was close to death and covered in oil) would go such a long way.

A part-time fisherman, Joao saw the penguin in such a deteriorated condition in 2011. He decided to nurse it back to health by feeding it a fish daily. He named him Dindim.

After a week of care and nursing, Joao thought of releasing it back into the sea, but Dindim didn’t leave.

Instead, the bird lived with him for 11 months and once when a new coat of feathers emerged, it left.

What came as a sweet surprise was the fact that the penguin visited the fisherman after a few months and it has continued doing so for FIVE YEARS.

When Dindim reunited with the fisherman for the first time, he spotted the fisherman on the beach and followed him till his home (so sweet, isn’t it?)

For the past five years, Dindim has been spending 8 months (June – February) with Joao and it’s believed that for the rest of the time it breeds off the coast of Argentina and Chile.

Joao Pereira de Souza couldn’t contain his excitement when he found that the love is mutual; the penguin doesn’t let any other human touch him.

Here’s what he said:

Biologist Professor Krajewski claims that Dindim believes Joao is a part of his family. *Aww*

How cute is that!

News Source: The Independent 

Cover Image Source 1 & 2