Well, moving on, donating's a part of volunteering as well and it's great action when considering how crucial help is to causes.
Tomistoma schlegelii are large, narrow-snouted crocodiles found in scattered parts throughout Malaysia and Indonesia in South-East Asia. This endangered species of crocodile can be very secretive where it lives in the peat swamp forests they love. In these swamp forests, they diet on a wide array of prey including invertebrates, fish, and even small mammals. Like other species of crocodile, Tomistoma can reach huge lengths in excess of 5 metres for adult males and around 3.5 metres for adult females. One of the most remarkable attributes that characterizes Tomistoma are their colors, where babies are born brown with dark brown blotches across their body and back (which they keep all the way into adulthood!).
Unfortunately, little as 3,000 individuals of Tomistoma are left in the world. Their rich peat forests are being logged and cleared for development. Their waters are invaded constantly by fishing nets, catching them unsuspected and drowning them to death as bycatch. Their mortality rate goes ever the higher with habitat loss and death by humans (both accidental and deliberate).
They're a dying race. A newly discovered, but slowly going extinct population of crocodiles. So why? Why care?
Because we're humans. We want to help. And though selfish, most of all we want to know. It's a curiosity budding within us because they're new to our world. The Tomistoma provide genetic diversity to the overall goal of biodiversity. They could have genes that could cure currently incurable diseases or even provide genes for our food. And heck, they're graceful beauties. Who wouldn't want to help a cute crocodile... a majestic beast of the waters?
Does there have to be a noble reason to volunteer and help? We don't think so. Many students in Arcadia volunteer for the purpose of getting volunteer hours to look better on their college applications and resumes. Many people donate to purposes they don't fully understand to feel better about themselves.
To make a difference, you just have to make a difference. Though donating won't make anything look special... if there's just a few excess, a few abundance... then surely it wouldn't help to donate a few bucks to a dying race to make it better.
Volunteering 101: Tomistoma Fund. Unlike all the others we covered so far, this one's about a species far away from Southern California. Unlike all the action-taking volunteering ones we talked about, this one's about donation. But like all the others, we think this is a volunteering opportunity worth knowing about. It's easy to remain ignorant about it. It's not even about our local neighborhood. We only found out through a related teacher who wasn't even our own.
Yet sometimes, it's good to know, to care about everything... because everything connects and because everything needs some action, some heart, even if it's just a little.
How is the Tomistoma Fund going along? Pretty well actually. Initiatives by organizations including the Tomistoma Fund and others like the Tomistoma Task Force have created a huge push towards Research, Awareness, Conservation, and Education (RACE) for the species as a whole. There is a children's book being made about the crocodile. Still, a little help will always be nice for everything on this world, even if it's just a little word.