Did you know that Kansas City Zoo has a secret rhino?

Visitors to the Kansas City Zoo may spot Werikhe the rhinoceros doing his thing out in the African plain, or maybe newcomers Zuri and Ruka having their turn out in the open.

But there is another, mystery rhino that the public never sees and the zoo rarely talks about.

Imara spends all her days in the rhino barn behind the scenes, or in a small shaded pen just outside.

This 14-year-old is special. She has even been written about in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine.

She is the only known eastern black rhinoceros to have a skin condition that makes it dangerous to be in the sun.

“She had a loss of melanin granules in the basal layer of her skin,” said Kirk Suedmeyer, head veterinarian at the zoo. That made her vulnerable to direct sunlight.

In humans it is called vitiligo, and it afflicts 1 percent to 2 percent of the world’s population. Pop icon Michael Jackson had it.

Imara was born at the Kansas City Zoo, the offspring of a mother who was brought here from the wild in Africa to enrich the genetic diversity of the captive population.

Now, because Imara’s condition may be genetic, managers of the rhino species survival plan recommend she not be bred.

So the zoo has a rhino that cannot mate and cannot show off to the public. It just has to take care of an otherwise healthy specimen of a critically endangered species.

But that’s OK.

“The question is, are we doing what’s in the best interest of the animal?” said Sean Putney, senior director of zoo operations. “She’s not taking up space needed by the rest of the (species survival plan), at least right now, so why would we do anything differently?”

When Imara was 2 years old, keepers noticed that one of her nostrils was turning a very un-rhino-like pink.

“It progressed to her face and her neck and her limbs,” said Suedmeyer.

Blood and other tests were all normal but a biopsy revealed the problem. Biopsies of the zoo’s other rhinos found that Imara’s father, Rudy, also had evidence of the condition, if not the symptoms.

The zoo began using ultraviolet light therapy on Imara and her skin began to regain pigment. Keepers continued to allow her to be outside. Then, a couple of years later, her back lost pigment and she became sunburned and blistered. For about four years, zoo staff treated her with a salve.

The zoo also built a cover for the yard outside the rhino barn so Imara could get out in the shade. But the zoo can’t cover the whole rhino exhibit, so Imara is never on display. And she’s never paired with any of the other rhinos.

Zoo officials say she doesn’t mind.

“If this was a herd animal and it was going to be alone for the rest of its life, we might have a difference of opinion here,” Putney said. “But rhinos really are loners. After they are raised by mom they go off on their own. So being alone isn’t necessarily an issue.”

And Imara does have human company in the barn.

“A lot of our keepers have a special bond with her,” said animal manager Katie Muninger, as she fed Imara vegetables through the bars. “Not only do we give her toys to play with and other types of enrichment, we socialize with her every day, as long as we can. She’s a very special rhino.”

Imara’s age is considered just past prime so she probably has many years left, whether zoo visitors ever get to see her or not.

“There are so many stories at the zoo,” Putney said, “whether it be conservation stories or medical stories, that the general public doesn’t know.”