The mothers of the two baby elephants forcibly taken out of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on Saturday, were pining for their offspring and facing severe health problems like swollen nipples having not fed their babies for long hours.

An official of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage told The Island yesterday: "We cannot even touch the nipples, when we treat the injured mothers milk sprays from the nipples." The she elephants were injured in their battle to save their beloved babies being separated.

He said if this situation is allowed to continue it would cause a lot of pain to the two mothers as when a she elephant sudenly stops feeding her offspring, the milk she produces solidifies and could cause various complications.

Meanwhile, Veterinary surgeons of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage Dr. Chandana Rajapakse and Dr. Chaminda Dissanayake make frequent visit to Kandy to attend to injuries on the two baby elephants -Sindhu and Raja- which were confined to a garage belonging to Diyawadana Nilame Niranjan Dela, now shifted to a closer location but heavily chained.

The Island learns that the transportation is exclusively handled by the Diyawadana Nilame himself. Three officials Ananda Bandara, Nishantha Bamanarchchi and R M S Rathnayake from Pinnawala, were deployed to look after the baby tuskers.

Shanthi, born in 1990, gave birth to Sindhu on November 9, 2006 while Punchi, born in 1989, gave birth to Raju on September, 12, 2006. Sindhu and Raju are the only tuskers of the 50 baby elephants in Pinnawala.

A number of organizations concerned about the welfare of animals, are planning to take legal action while some are planning to take up the matter with President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Meanwhile, the Wildlife Nature Protection Society said that they are planning to take strict action against those involved in such inhuman acts.