Viral Portal News: Penguin

Story of deep friendship: Penguin swims 5,000 miles yearly to visit the man who saved his life

Unknown 1:11 PM 5000 , deep , Friendship , life , Miles , Penguin , saved , story , Swims , Visit , yearly

<ul><li>A Brazilian man found a dying penguin on a beach covered in oil, nursed the bird back into health </li> <li>He set it free but the Penguin would always come back for  reunion, swims around 5,000 miles </li> <li>The two has since formed a special kind of friendship spanning five years</li> </ul>He’s back again! Who wouldn’t find such a remarkable friendship such as theirs so amazing? A heartwarming bond was formed between a 75-year-old Brazilian man and a penguin he saved and nursed into health more than five years ago. In March of 2011, João Pereira de Souza, a widower and a retired bricklayer, found the dying bird on a beach in the fishing village of Ilha Grande island. The man raises chicken as his primary source of living. The story goes that de Souza discovered the penguin soaked in oil and barely breathing on the shore. He then rescued it, cleaned it up and named the bird Jinjing. With a little help from fishermen in the village, de Souza fed Jinjing sardines everyday. Plus he shared his small shanty with the migratory bird, and when it finally regained its strength, de Souza decided to set it free on the beach. Surprisingly, the man said Jinjing returned after a few days. He thus tried sending the bird away again in hopes of reacquainting it with the lures of open water, but it would always come back and there are even instances when de Souza would just find the penguin waiting by the doorsteps after releasing him. So it sure looked like the bird had no intention of ever forgetting the man. Hence, the amazing friendship between de Souza and Jinjing continued. The two would often stroll along the beach, swim  or even converse in the ‘penguinese’ language which only the two could understand. De Souza says: “When he returns, he’s so happy to see me, and he comes up to my neck and hoots.” The villagers are astounded at the rare bond between de Souza and Jinjing — who has since been the village mascot. “It spends 10, 12, 15 days away and then comes back to the same house,” says fisherman Mário Castro. “It’s an incredible thing, huh?” Jinjing is a Magellanic penguin which is known for migrating thousands of miles near Patagonia breeding colonies up to the northern part. The bird is generally known to mate on September before laying their eggs between December and February. It is believed to swim around 5,000 miles to go back to his friend fora visit. According to neighbors, Jinjing has become very close to the man that it has formed a jealous streak whenever other animals come near de Souza and would chase or peck them away. Even de Souza’s daughter who lives in Rio de Janeiro, Mery Alves, said it has become difficult for them to convince her father to come and visit them in the city as he would always worry a lot about his friend not having enough sardines to eat. “We call him and tell him to come visit and he says, ‘OK, OK,’ ” Mery said. “But then he doesn’t. It’s like a son to him.” Watch De Souza and Jinjing’s video below: <iframe width="620" height="349" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6McB0jhPWqs?feature=oembed" frame allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="620" height="349" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TNZtKuLWHm4?feature=oembed" frame allowfullscreen></iframe> <a href="http://kickerdaily.com/story-of-deep-friendship-penguin-swims-5000-miles-yearly-to-visit-the-man-who-saved-his-life/" rel="nofollow">Kicker Daily News</a>

A Brazilian man found a dying penguin on a beach covered in oil, nursed the bird back into health He set it free b ut the Penguin would alw...