have you seen my human?
JOÃO PEREIRA DE SOUZA GOES FOR A SWIM WITH DINDIM, HIS MAGELLANIC PENGUIN FRIEND.
Penguin and Human
BFFs Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Each June, João Pereira de Souza expects a visitor to his home: Dindim the Magellanic penguin. In 2011 de Souza found Dindim stranded on some rocks after the bird had been caught in an oil spill. De Souza took the penguin home, where he cleaned and fed the bird to get Dindim ready for release back into the ocean. But the penguin had other ideas and stuck around for a few months before heading back to sea. He’s returned to visit de Souza every year since. “Male Magellanic penguins are extremely loyal to their female partners,” biologist João Paulo Krajewski says. “Dindim’s loyal too, except he’s loyal to a person instead!” Dindim spends eight months with his human BFF. No one’s sure where he goes during the other four months, but they know come June they can find him at de Souza’s side, eating sardines. —Sara Schwartz
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NOVEMBER 2016