Possesing deadly snakes?

Question

I've heard of people who posses snakes that make rattlers look harmless (gaboon vipers, cobras, spitting cobras, green and black mambas, fer de lances, saw scaled vipers ect).

What are the legal ramifications for someone who possesses any of the above and they get loose?

Also what happens if someone 'intentionally' breeds and sets any of the loose above into the southern wilderness to create a thriving population of these deadly snakes? Would that fall under bio-terrorism?

Don't worry, I don't possess any snakes, they scare me to death. I saw a blog post recently of someone releasing a cobra into the Florida Everglades some years ago. Was just wondering how much trouble they got into for doing such.

Answer 1

Depends what country you are in, in the UK you need a license to keep anything on the DWA list, which would include all the snakes you listed above.

I don't know much about laws in the USA though, but I am betting it varies state to state.