Pheasants are not allowed to eat Pheasants belong to the national second-class protected animals, and it is illegal to kill the national key protected wild animals. Therefore, you can't eat pheasants. Pheasant is a common name for pheasants in zoology. According to legend, the name of Lu Hou in Han Dynasty was pheasant. In order to avoid taboo, Emperor Gaozu ordered the pheasant to be called pheasant.