The penguin that followed a teacher home
Tom Michell was teaching at a school in South America when he rescued a penguin from an oil slick, changing his life in ways he could never imagine.
While visiting friends in Uruguay, British teacher Tom Michell saw a penguin covered in oil and tar on a beach. Tom cleaned the bird as best he could and then tried to release it. The penguin refused to return to the wild, it just followed Tom around. So he took it home, smuggling the animal across the border into Argentina where he lived and worked at a boarding school. The penguin became a part of his life, and the school's life - with a remarkable influence on everyone who came into contact with it.
Later Tom entertained his children, friends and family with tales of the penguin. He put those stories into a bestselling book, The Penguin Lessons, now the subject of a film starring British comedian Steve Coogan.
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Hetal Bapodra
Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Tom Michell looks out to sea, and a Magellanic penguin. Credit: @charlesfrancis.photos and Getty Images)
Last on
Broadcasts
- Thu 17 Apr 202511:06GMTBBC World Service
- Thu 17 Apr 202517:06GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Thu 17 Apr 202521:06GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Fri 18 Apr 202502:06GMTBBC World Service
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