Comment on FR Doc # 2011-07653

When I wrote the attached status report for Peary caribou (COSEWIC. 2004. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the Peary caribou Rangifer tarandus pearyi and the barren-ground caribou Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus (Dolphin and Union population) in Canada (www.sararegistry.gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm). Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), Ottawa), Peary caribou were endangered and their situation has not improved since then. This species has episodic crashes due to weather that may be worsening because of climate change. They are also threatened by climate change in another way, that is, opening up the sea lanes to ice-breakers and other traffic, which could prevent their interisland movements. I studied these caribou in the winters in 1974-75 and visited the area again in 2002 while writing the status report. There is no reason whatever for not recognizing their endangered status.