Watch: This Penguin swims 8,000 kms every year to meet the man who saved his life

Back in 2011, a 71-year-old retired bricklayer and part time fisherman Joao Pereira de Souza found Dindim, a South African Magellanic penguin, covered in oil and very close to death on the beaches of Brazil.

He nursed the injured penguin back to health but noticed a very unusual development- the penguin had no inclination to leave. He stayed with him for the next 11 months until one day Dindim finally left.

But, that’s not the end of the story.

As it turns out, the penguin returned to visit him next year and the years following that.

Everyone warned Joao that it was foolish on his part to expect the penguin to return. “But, he’s been coming back for the past four years,” he said.

The penguin must be swimming approximately 8,000 kms to do the same.

While talking to Globo TV, Joao revealed that he loves the penguin like it’s his own child and believes that the penguin loves him back too. “No one else is allowed to touch him. He pecks them if they do. He lays on my lap, lets me give him showers, allows me to feed him sardines and to pick him up,” he added.

This is as adorable as it gets!

Watch the video here: