ILHA GRANDE, Brazil, Nov. 9 (UPI) — A Brazilian retiree who rescued an oil-soaked penguin on the beach in 2011 said the bird still regularly returns to his home for some quality time.
Joao Pereira de Souza, 71, a retired bricklayer who raises chickens on his property near the beach on the island of Ilha Grande in Rio de Janeiro state, said he released the penguin after cleaning and feeding him in March 2011, but he soon discovered he had made a friend for life.
De Souza said the penguin, which he named Jingjing, spends several days at a time by his side before leaving for days, weeks or even months. He said the penguin always comes back.
“I never saw a critter get so attached,” de Souza told The Wall Street Journal. “You can let him go wherever you want, but he’ll come right back.”
Community administrator Carlos Eduardo Arantes said Jingjing is popular with locals.
“He’s the village mascot,” Arantes said.
Jingjing is a Magellanic penguin, native to Patagonia — about 2,000 miles from de Souza’s home — but they are known to migrate up to 3,000 miles.
Dyan deNapoli, a veterinary nurse who formerly cared for the penguins at Boston’s New England Aquarium and runs a website called The Penguin Lady, said Jingjing may have adopted de Souza as a substitute for a mate.
“It’s all theoretical. I mean, who knows what goes on in the mind of a lone penguin,” deNapoli said. “It’s possible that he has redirected his natural instinct to mate toward this guy.”
De Souza said the penguin is “jealous” of any animal that shows him affection.
“He doesn’t let any dog or cat near me or else he goes after them and pecks,” he said.
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