Introduction to the questionnaire: Please read this section carefully

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) seeks to improve its ability to obtain Community Knowledge, and encourages all those in possession of useful knowledge to contact the Committee through this questionnaire.

Please note that COSEWIC only seeks information on the current or historic status of species, not opinions on the consequences of legal listing. Information or opinions on the consequences of listing are important to the final decision of whether or not to list a species under the Federal Species At Risk Act (SARA), but they are not considered by COSEWIC for status assessment, which is only based on available information on the species. The public consultation process, following COSEWIC assessments, will seek information on the consequences of legal listing. Please also note that information provided after the deadline (8 to 12 months before the expected assessment date - see List of COSEWIC species included in the most recent call for bids) will not be included in the Status Assessment process.

This questionnaire seeks information that a person has directly obtained (not heard from someone else) and is not otherwise available to COSEWIC, (for example in the scientific literature or in government reports). Verifiable documentation would be most appreciated (such as fur returns, catch statistics, or neatly compiled records of sightings), and that historical information on changes in abundance, distribution or behavior is most useful for status assessment.

If you consider that your information is sensitive, please mention it and COSEWIC will handle it carefully. For example, if your information could attract visitors or poachers to a site where a species is vulnerable, or is commercially sensitive (e.g. fur takes from particular traplines), it will only be released in aggregated form so that individual contributions cannot be traced. If you ask that your identity not be revealed, your wish will be respected (although your contact information must be retained in the COSEWIC Secretariat files, in case the veracity of contributed information is challenged legally). Unless you specifically indicate otherwise, your provision of information implies your agreement that the information may be included in the species' Status Report and your name listed as a contact.

COSEWIC is currently seeking Community Knowledge about the following species: ( List of COSEWIC species included in the most recent call for bids)

The deadline for providing comments on these species will be 8-12 months before the expected date of assessment (tentatively indicated in the list).