Cacareco (1954-1962) was a female

black rhinoceros The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

exhibited in Brazilian zoos. She is known for receiving many votes in the 1958

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

city council elections as a form of

protest vote A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms a ...

. Electoral officials did not accept Cacareco's candidacy, but she eventually won 100,000 votes, more than any other party in that same election (which was also marked by rampant absenteeism). Cacareco's candidacy inspired the Rhinoceros Party of Canada, nominally led by the rhinoceros Cornelius the First. Cacareco's candidacy also inspired a very popular 1960 Carnival song.

History

Cacareco was born in 1954 at the Jardim Zoológico do Rio de Janeiro. She was the daughter of rhinoceroses Britador and Terezinha. In 1958 she was loaned for three months, on the occasion of the opening of

São Paulo Zoo The São Paulo Zoo ( pt, Parque Zoológico de São Paulo) is the largest zoo in Brazil. With 824,529 m2 (82.45 hectares 03.7 acres of space in what was originally the Atlantic Forest, the zoo is south of the city of São Paulo. It displays m ...

. In that year there were elections being held for the city council. Journalist Itaboraí Martins, displeased with the candidates' level, proposed the name of Cacareco as a write-in candidate. Cacareco was returned to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

two days before the elections, where she received 100,000 votes. She was also exhibited at

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

in 1962, before dying in the same year.

References

Animals in politics History of São Paulo 1958 in Brazil 1958 in politics Individual animals in Brazil {{Brazil-poli-stub Individual rhinoceroses 1954 animal births 1962 animal deaths