Yet Another Kink : Group’s Custody Claim Is New Twist in Tortuous Tale of Kinkajous

The long and twisted tale of a UC Irvine researcher’s kinkajous took another turn Tuesday when an animal-rights group claimed it has been awarded custody of the rare, raccoonlike animals by the Mexican government.

The Fund for Animals Inc. said the director of Mexico’s environmental protection and development agency had granted the organization custody of the kinkajous, with the goal of rehabilitating and returning them to their native rain forests in Mexico.

UCI representatives, however, said they have not been contacted by the Mexican government and are still in the process of determining the validity of the Fund for Animals’ claims.

In the meantime, as far as the university is concerned, UCI retains custody of the kinkajous by court order.

“The position of the University of California, at this time, is to respect the prior court orders of the district court in . . . Texas,” said Kenneth E. Gertz, an attorney for UCI and doctoral candidate Cary Chevalier. Chevalier could not be reached for comment.

The Maryland-based animal-rights group has given UCI until Thursday to respond to its request for the kinkajous.

“If necessary, we will go to a court of law and we will push the issue,” said Kyle Owens, Fund for Animals director for investigations. “If they do not cooperate, they’re not saying no to the Fund for Animals. They’re saying no to the government of Mexico.”

Mexican officials could not be reached immediately for comment. Gertz would not discuss a time line or the status of his inquiries with Mexican authorities. But it seemed evident Tuesday that the five kinkajous in UCI custody were not going anywhere soon.

The saga of the kinkajous is a complex one, full of conflicting charges and countercharges of theft, mistreatment of the animals and abandonment. Even the number of animals is disputed in the case, which has spanned two countries and three states, and has involved the Texas Rangers.

It all started back in 1987, when Chevalier was given permission by Mexican authorities to capture kinkajous for his doctoral dissertation project at UCI.

These nocturnal, long-tailed mammals are found from Mexico to Brazil, but their rain forest habitat is increasingly being destroyed by man.

Chevalier’s research was aimed at learning whether the animals could survive the effects of climate change caused by deforestation. According to UCI representatives, Chevalier captured six of the animals and subsequently was given a seventh by California wildlife officials. The seventh animal gave birth to No. 8.

The doctoral student tested the animals’ response to a range of temperatures from 32 to 113 degrees, temperatures mirroring those in their native habitat. The Fund for Animals and other animal-rights groups involved in the custody battle have alleged that Chevalier placed the animals in steel drums heated to 113 degrees for hours at a time. Chevalier and his attorneys have denied that charge and have said the animals were never harmed by the research.

In May, 1989, when Chevalier took a sabbatical to work for Arizona’s wildlife department, he sent the eight kinkajous to be cared for temporarily at an animal-care facility in Midlothian, Tex. That October, the facility’s director told him the animals had escaped. He later learned that some of the animals had been sent to an animal rehabilitation center in San Antonio.

The Texas Rangers got involved when Chevalier reported his animals stolen. The San Antonio center, Primarily Primates, countered with a lawsuit claiming that Chevalier had abandoned the animals. Last May, a Texas judge granted UCI custody of the animals, but only five of them were returned to Orange County.

It is not clear what happened to the other three kinkajous, but animal-rights activists have accused Chevalier of killing some of them in his experiments, a charge he and his attorneys deny. The doctoral candidate has since sued Primarily Primates and its director, claiming that they abused the legal process and intentionally caused him emotional pain.

The suits are still pending in Bexar County, Texas, Gertz said.

As for the Mexican government’s sudden involvement with the kinkajous, it all began when the Fund for Animals contacted the secretary of the Mexican ecology agency, informing the agency that Chevalier had completed his research and that they were willing to take charge of the kinkajous and to prepare them for return to Mexico.

In letters provided to The Times by the animal-rights group, the director of the ecology agency authorized the Fund for Animals to temporarily house the kinkajous in UCI’s possession, rehabilitate them and return them to the Mexican regions of Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca and Chiapas. Owen said the letters were sent by facsimile machines on Feb. 27.

The Fund for Animals also received a copy of a letter purportedly sent by the Mexican agency to Chevalier’s research supervisor of record, Albert F. Bennett, a UCI reptile expert. Bennett was out of town and unavailable for comment.

Gertz said his office is still trying to verify the validity of the Mexican letters provided by attorneys for the Fund for Animals.