Has the news cycle got you down?
Do you feel inundated with stories of global conflict, violence and celebrity cat fights?
Well, my dear friend, it’s about time you met Dindin the penguin.
Let us set the scene:
On an island off Rio de Janeiro, in 2011, 71-year-old Joao Pereira de Souza found a critically injured penguin.
The penguin was covered in oil, starving, distressed and alone.
De Souza took him in, cleaned his sticky feathers, and slowly but surely nursed him back to health.
Unfortunately, adopting a penguin, dressing him up and having him live in a bathtub isn’t a viable option. Let us assure you, we’ve done our research.
So, de Souza did the right thing. After a week of bonding with Dindin, he released him back into the wild.
Well….that’s sweet, we hear you say. But it’s also slightly sad. Whatever became of Dindin? What of their new found friendship?
Stay. With. Us.
Several months later, de Souza is minding his own business, probably still mourning the loss of his ridiculously cute pet penguin. UNTIL.
Dindin returned to the island. He wanted to say thank you.
The penguin recognised de Souza as the man who saved his life. Dindin is not interested in other humans who try and pat and cuddle him. De Souza explains “He pecks them if they do. He lays on my lap, lets me give him showers, allowed me to feed him sardines and to pick him up.”
De Souza continues, “I love the penguin like it’s my own child and I believe the penguin loves me.”
Like with anything that makes us feel good, there are cynics. But we will hear none of it. Biologist Joao Paulo Krajewski knows all the things about penguins, and he says “I have never seen anything like this before. I think the penguin believes Joao is part of his family and probably a penguin as well.”
Krajewski describes how when Dindin sees de Souza he “wags his tail like a dog and honks with delight.”
And there you have it. The best news story of 2016.