Would it be illegal to reintroduce mountain lions or wolves into the northeast?

Question

My understanding is it is not against the law to bring in a "new" species if that species formerly inhabited an area then it is not considered a non-native species. Wolves and Cougars once roamed the Northeast. New Jersey has a huge deer population, which is extremely destructive and cannot even be managed by human hunting. Supposedly one mountain will kill and eat 52 deer a year (one a week). I don't know how many wolves could kill. Why don't we bring back these predators? They rarely attack humans and will reduce the population of the deer.

Answer 1

It is illegal, and you can be arrested for bringing them in, because if they do attack humans, they can die. XX

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Answer 2

One of the sticking points with reintroducing wolves in to the northeast (and it has been considered) is what species used to live there?

There isn't much in the line of specimens we can test for DNA (so far it's only 2 pieces of hide with a date and location attached to them) Museums didn't collect wolves or coyotes and the original population has been gone over a hundred years. Those two bits of hide point to them being red wolves but 2 bits of hide aren't very much to draw conclusions from.

If we do find that the original canine in the NE was the Red Wolf how do we deal with the coyotes that have moved in? Red wolves interbreed with coyotes and the Eastern Coyotes are getting larger (moving into that vacant niche).

So the situation is what the biologists fondly refer to as "a can of worms".

The hopes are that gray Wolves will move in on their own from Canada but as of yet it hasn't happened.

Answer 3

If you are not working for, or with the Game and Fish or other state or federal wildlife services, the YES, it is ILLEGAL to  reintroduce any species of wildlife into an area.

Answer 4

Probably not a question of whether it is illegal or not. If they are  introduced and pose a threat to humans they will simply be wiped out by humans yet again.

Answer 5

Legality is less important than the ability of the animals to survive and what happens when they encounter humans. Even if someone sees one of the animals you released and panics, driving his car off a cliff, you would be held responsible. It's not a good idea for cities, suburbs, or agricultural areas. After all, if you were a predator, would you go after tough, fleet deer or tender, slow livestock?  

Every so often, there is a report of a wild cougar roaming the NE. The story usually circulated is that drug dealers keep them to discourage unwanted "guests" and the cougars sometimes get loose.