What's an animal a local zoo has that is rarely seen otherwise?

Really? I thought the ambassador animal building was open to the public. Although it's been a while since I've been, so I'm not sure.

 

My impression from their website and in-person the last few years has been that it's closed to the public. Since it's a bit out of the way in person, I've never actually checked.

 

Oh, well that's disappointing

 

With Burgers' being my home zoo I got quite some nice species close to me otherwise seen rarely or if not at all elsewhere.

Species like the manatee, dusky langur, hispid cotton rat and Japanese wobbegong, California bighorn sheep, Merriam's kangaroo-rat, ring-tailed cats are kept in several zoos, but none close-by or around the corner (in the country). But the main unique species here are probably the screaming pihas.

 

Milwaukee County Zoo has bonobos and potto.

 

And they are one of the only holders of Pale-mandibled Aracari.

 

Wasn't aware of this

 

Burgers has an amazing collection. When it comes to fish they have both rare sharks (blacktip shark, Japanese wobbegong), rays (spotted eagle-ray, mangrove whipray, honeycomb stingray, blackchin guitarfish) and bony fishes (barracuda, banded blanquillo, mangrove molly, bay snook, ...). Also loads of rare birds indeed (on a European scale at least) with at least five species not kept anywhere else in Europe according to ZTL: chestnut-bellied seed-finch, yellow grossbeak, screaming piha, rose-bellied bunting and the Lawrence goldfinch. Even when it comes to reptiles they do have at least one rarity with their rattlesnakes.

 

My two local zoos (Antwerp and Planckendael, same institution and management) have a couple extremely rare to rare species for European zoos at least. Most famous is probably the only and almost certainly last European group of slender-horned gazelles and the only eastern lowland gorilla outside Afrika. Beside these they have
Mammals

• Pure South-east Australian short-beaked echidna (the only two pure ones left in Europe according to ZTL, but just the species )
• Dusky pademelon
  
• Goodfellow tree kangaroo
• Koala
• Tasmanian devil
• Pure rocky-mountain elk
  
• Red duiker
• Black-rumped aguti
  
• Bonobo
• Hamlyn's monkey
  
• Northern dry zone slender loris (currently of-show)
• Black-and-rufous elephant shrew

Birds

• (Emins) black-billed turako
• Great blue turaco (of-show)
  
• Red-billed currasow
• Crestless curassow (one of only 3 left in European zoos )
  
• Congo peafowl
  
• Magellanic steamer duck
• Macaroni penguin
• Purple heron
• Oriental stork
  
• Egyptian plover
• Arabian Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse
  
• Sumatran laughingthrush
  
• Barred buttonquail
  
• Crested oropendala
• Painted bunting
• Ultramarine grosbeak
• Rosy starling

Reptiles and amphibians

• Branderhorst´s snapping turtle
• Central African giant mud turtle (only zoo in Europe)
• African keeled mud turtle (only zoo in Europe)
• Rhinoceros viper
  
• Banded Cobra
• Baja rosy boa
  
• Children’s python
  
• Robert Mertens' day gecko
  
• Black-lined plated lizard
• Leptiens spiny-tailed lizard (of-show)
• Zoutpansberg girdled lizard
• Eastern blue-tongued skink
• Robert Mertens' day gecko
  
• Imitating poison dart frog

Fish and aquatic invertebrates

• Zebra bullhead shark (behind the scenes, may be gone by now after the accident with the other one. Let's just say the blacktips loved them a bit too much)
• Piquiti pavon
• Probably several cichlids and marine fish, some aquatic invertebrates as well I presume

 

This is why living near San Diego and Los Angeles is always great for seen lists.
Channel Island fox
Emporer Penguins
Guadalupe fur seal
Commersons Dolphin
Short-finned Pilot whale
Ringed Seal
Bald Ukari
Mountain Tapir
Chinese giant salamander
Northern White Rhino
Chinese goral
Calamian Deer
Larger Malay Chevrotain
Buff Cheeked Gibbon
Reeves Muntjac (uncommon in American zoos)
Southern Pudu (uncommon in American zoos)

 

The North Carolina Zoo got a few.

• Thick-billed murre (only holder)
• Parakeet Auklet (only holder)
• Worm-eating Warbler
• Pine-Barrens Tree Frog
• Carolina Gopher Frog
• Horned Lark
• House Finch
• Pygmy-spiny tailed skink
• Long-nosed snake
• Desert Pupfish
• Fringe-eared oryx

 

My local zoo (AquaZoo Leeuwarden) has some species that are not or rarely seen in other zoos nearby.

MAMMALS:

• American beaver (Castor canadensis) (15 holders in Europe)
• Giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) (22 holders in Europe with about 65 individuals)
• South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) (8 holders in Europe with about 25 individuals)
• Tammar wallaby (Notamacropus eugenii) (12 holders in Europe)

BIRDS:

• Flying steamerduck (Tachyeres patachonicus) (6 holders in Europe with about 13 individuals)