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The widower whose best friend is a penguin

A widower from a remote Brazilian fishing village has made an unlikely best friend: a lost penguin called Jinjing.

João Pereira de Souza, a retired bricklayer in his 70's, found the penguin washed up on the beach near his house, covered in oil. He was originally from Patagonia in Chile, 2000 miles away.

Reporter Paul Kiernan, who covered the story for the Wall Street Journal, said after Mr de Souza took care of Jinjing, the penguin kept coming “right back to the spot where João has a little house”.

Asked about their relationship, Mr Kiernan said: “It’s very affectionate. The penguin nibbles his hands and follows him around and stuff.

“I spoke with some experts who said there’s a pretty decent chance that the penguin thinks the man is his mate,” he added.

This clip is originally from the 5 live Hit List on Sunday 8 November 2015.

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2 minutes

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