HARTFORD, Conn. -- As it has since 1908, Connecticut will stock hunting
areas with pheasants this fall. But encroaching suburbs are doing more to
cut into the sport than animal rights activists who deplore the killing.

The pheasant season is set to begin Oct. 18, shortly after officials stock
wildlife areas with 17,625 birds. That's down from about 40,000 birds 20
years ago, said Mark Clavette, a wildlife biologist at the state
Department of Environmental Protection.

"The habitat is no longer as suitable for that objective," he said, citing
a shift from agricultural to forested land.

In addition, the number of stocking areas has been cut to 50 from about
70, Clavette said.

An animal rights activist has denounced the stocking program, calling it a
cruel sport that leaves surviving birds vulnerable to predators and brutal
winters.

Julie Lewin, a lobbyist for Animal Advocacy Connecticut, compares the
pheasant stocking program with animal abandonment, which is illegal in the
state.