Many hunters, conservationists and wildlife advocates are calling for an end to the state’s failed artificial pheasant propagation program which releases more than 30,000 adult pheasants prior to and during the fall hunting season. This failed practice of artificially breeding pheasants for the purpose of killing them must end. Non-native and raised in pens, these baby birds are used to contact with humans who feed them, have no fear of predators, and are released into an unfamiliar environment ill-equipped to survive. A significant percentage of these birds die from starvation, cold, or being struck by cars shortly after release. Stocked pheasants are provided by DEC’s Reynold’s Game Farm in Ithaca. The goal of the pheasant propagation program is not to restore wild pheasant populations, but to provide an upland game bird hunting opportunity.

Promoted as an introduction for youth, novice and disabled hunters, pheasant stocking allows participants an easy mark to ensure success. This does not promote conservation. The pheasants are not expected to survive, predators take a major toll and very few survive the winter. This target practice with live animals does not support sustainable wildlife management. Less than half of the pheasants released each year are successfully bagged by hunters which leaves a considerable number unequipped to survive. Pheasants raised in captivity lack the necessary skills to find food and avoid predators.

We urge you to ban the breeding and release of thousands of pheasants for hunting in NY State and reallocate public funds to habitat preservation, wildlife rehabilitators and wildlife rehabilitation centers. Disease outbreaks like the H5N1 avian flu in 2023 resulted in the intentional killing of the breeding flock at the Reynolds Game Farm, incurring extra expenses for the state. Minnesota and South Dakota ended their failed pheasant breeding programs decades ago, so why is New York still torturing baby birds that jeopardize highway safety? Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal introduced legislation to stop this state-sponsored cruelty. Bill A888 would prohibit the state from participating in artificial pheasant propagation. In 2024 the New York Times reported that the cost of New York State’s pheasant breeding program was $1.4 million. Taxpayer money should be used for true conservation, wildlife rehabilitation centers, protecting wildlife habitats, providing low cost spay and neuter services, funding animal shelters, providing rabies shots for wildlife rehabilitators and paying rehabilitators for their services.