Zoo Severs Link With Kansas Wildlife Dealer : Animal Care: Trader James Fouts admits he took four endangered African antelope to an auction in Missouri.

The San Diego Zoological Society has severed relations with a Kansas animal dealer who said Tuesday that he took four endangered addax antelope from the San Diego Wild Animal Park to a Missouri wild animal auction in 1985.

Jeff Jouett, a zoo spokesman, said the zoo cut its ties with animal trader James Fouts in October because zoo staffers had “suspicions” that Fouts did business with wild animal auctions.

In a telephone interview with The Times on Tuesday, Fouts confirmed that he took two male and two female addax from the San Diego Wild Animal Park to an auction in Cape Girardeau, Mo., in 1985. At the auction, he said, two of the antelope, a male and a female, were sold to the owners of a Texas game farm, where Fouts said no hunting is done.

The other two addax were later sold to a private breeder, said Fouts, who did not recall the names of either of his customers. The addax, which are native to Africa, are known for their long, twisting horns.

Zoos nationwide, including the San Diego Zoo, condemn the sale or transfer of any zoo animals to wildlife auctions, both because auction animals are poorly treated and because auction sales are widely thought to hinder legitimate breeding efforts. The San Diego Zoo is a member of the American Assn. of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, the industry’s principal trade group, which specifically prohibits its members from offering wildlife for sale at auctions attended by the general public. Fouts is not a member of the AAZPA.

Since 1976, the San Diego Zoo has also had its own policy to prevent its animals from being sold at auction. The written policy states that the zoo will cease doing business with any person or organization that participates in selling zoo animals to wildlife auctions or hunting ranches. Animal traders who receive zoo animals are required to sign “humane treatment agreements” guaranteeing that they will not “cause mental or physical harm to the animals or treat them in an inhumane or cruel manner.”

Once a dealer signs such an agreement, however, there are few checks on what happens next. Zoo officials concede that they must generally trust dealers to keep their word.

Fouts, proprietor of the Kansas-based Tanganyika Wildlife Co., was one of two animal dealers featured in a Jan. 21 “60 Minutes” television show that suggested that animals from some zoos end up on private hunting farms, often via wildlife auctions. The other dealer, Earl Tatum, still does business with the zoo.

Recently, both the Los Angeles and San Francisco zoos have stopped doing business with Tatum because of allegations that he took animals to wildlife auctions. The Los Angeles Zoo also suspended relations with Fouts.

The televised report prompted more than 300 people to call the San Diego Zoo and about 75 people to write letters, Jouett said. In response, the zoo sent a two-page letter Jan. 26 to all members of the Zoological Society that noted a “clear linkage between Fouts and an auction” and announced that the zoo no longer worked with Fouts. Jouett also sent a four-page letter to everyone who called and wrote. That letter also said Fouts had been dropped.

The “60 Minutes” report featured a memo written by a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigator who quoted Fouts as saying the four addax were transported directly from San Diego to the Missouri auction.

Jouett said that, before the “60 Minutes” segment ran, inquiries from the show’s reporters raised suspicions about Fouts, prompting the zoo to sever relations with him.

Later, Jouett said, the zoo requested and received a copy of the USDA memo from Washington, as well as information about other animal traders it uses. The memo seemed to confirm what zoo staffers had suspected, Jouett said.

Fouts, reached at home in Goddard, Kan., said he hadn’t been officially notified of the decision by San Diego Zoo authorities to sever their relationship with him. He also said that, to his knowledge, he did not break any agreement with the zoo.

“I have not violated my trust with San Diego or anyone else,” Fouts said. “If they don’t trust me, it’s news to me. I have not been informed if that’s the case. I’d be very disappointed. . . . I’m not very happy about it.”

Jouett responded: “That doesn’t surprise me. We haven’t had any opportunity to sit down and talk with him about all of the specifics. The curators have made the decision and have yet to communicate that to Fouts.”

Fouts acknowledged that he has not been to the San Diego Zoo since last fall.

In the USDA memo, Fouts is quoted as saying he took the antelopes in trade for money owed him by the zoo. On Tuesday, however, Fouts said he received the addax in exchange for some exotic birds, which he imports. Jouett has acknowledged that the zoo often trades surplus animals to animal traders in return for their transport services.

Fouts said he regretted taking the animals to auction. When he did so, he said, he was new to the transporting business and knew little about the auctions. He hired an independent transporter to move the antelope, he said.

“I had never been to an auction,” Fouts said. “I had no idea what an auction was about. The animals ended up there by default.”

Like zoo officials, he said he now agrees that exotic zoo-bred species should not be sold at auctions, both because of the stress of transportation and the fact that they could end up at hunting farms or other questionable destinations.

“I don’t believe zoo animals have a place there,” Fouts said. “If I had it to do over, I wouldn’t do it.”

He acknowledged that he has attended animal auctions, but he said he went there to “rescue” animals--that is, to find them better homes. Fouts said he has not sold animals at an auction since 1985.

Fouts, who has been in the animal industry 20 years, says he runs a breeding facility in Kansas where he has collected 35-40 species, mostly various kinds of antelope. He says he eventually plans to sell those animals to zoos and other responsible buyers. Fouts formerly imported exotic birds through Los Angeles, he said.

Fouts said he is licensed by both the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees facilities for the animals, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which regulates interstate movement of and commerce in endangered and threatened species.

In December, 1985, Fouts paid a civil penalty of $2,500 for a federal violation arising from his import of an endangered African parrot for which he did not have the required documentation.