Life of two baby tuskers Raju and Sindu, have been suddenly snatched away from their mothers, Shanthi and Punchi2, while causing sparking anger in a world-renown elephant orphanage in central Sri Lanka. Describing the scene when the two and a half year old calves were taken away, the care taker said the mother elephants looked helplessly, but trumpeted out loud and pulled at their chains miserably. Even the villagers have protested the brutal wrenching away of the baby tuskers from their mothers.

The two baby tuskers were forcibly separated from their mothers by the Diyawadena Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela, the chief custodian of the Temple of the Tooth, on the 25th of July Saturday night at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, where the pair was an offering to Raja Maha Vihara.
According to an eyewitness, despite protests by some officials at the elephant orphanage, after hours of battle, the Diyawadana Nilame who was supported by nearly 50 persons which including some in police uniforms had assisted in forcibly removing calves from their mothers.

They caught act in training

"I consider it as one of darkest hours in my career as an employee at Pinnawala to witness the struggle between the two mothers who were heavily chained, when their babies were taken away. We boast our cultural and religious values but we continue to be inhuman when it comes to dealing with animals," a spokesman from the elephant orphanage was further quoted.

The legal issues arise as to why they bought the only two tuskers of the 50 baby elephants born at Pinnawala, instead of two baby elephants when the cabinet approval was granted to transfer two baby elephants. Also the elephant expert and Managing Trustee of the Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust Jayantha Jayawardena said “Elephants are not born with natural instincts. It is essential they stay with their parents until the age of five. These tuskers were too young to be removed from their mothers as they had much to learn from them and rest of the herd.

The environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardena told the AFP news agency that "The mothers' udders have swollen because they're unable to give milk. It's not only the calves but even the mothers that are suffering,” The court petition filed by the animal rights group says that baby elephants should live with their mothers for at least five years - and that the removal of the calves amounts to cruelty against them. Sathwa Mithrayo spokeswoman Sagarika Karaunananayake argues that the government's constitutional requirement to safeguard and develop Buddhism in the island should not be at the expense of rare wild animals.

In this instance, the calves are being deprived of their right to their mothers’ milk, kept in an unsuitable environment and subjected to mental agony caused by separation from their mothers. It is a shame for a government party and being a Buddhist country to hold an animal by force and ill-treat them. Lord Buddha was never approved in ill-treating animals for any cause, even if it is for a religion or a traditional matter. Hence it becomes a very ironic situation when they put all the harassment accounts on Lord Buddha.

Young zoologist association (YZA) members witnessed and took photographs of the harassment being meted out to the calves during attempts to tame them. According to YZA President Pubudu Weeraratne , the two baby tuskers have been separated from each other , with one kept in a small shed and other tied to a coconut tree. They were fed Kitul and coconut leaves. He says that the calves were removed from the orphanage without permission from the department of Wildlife Conservation.

Only the national zoological gardens and the Wildlife Department have authority over registration and transportation of animals.  A spokesperson from the Wildlife Department said that the department had not been informed about the transfer.

According to lawyer and Wildlife activist Jagath Gunawardene, Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance state that one cannot deprive animals of their right to food; they cannot be subjected to torture or any kind of physical or mental abuse and they cannot be tied in a manner that hinders their movements.

Minister Gamini Lokuge says various stories to different media as to why the baby tuskers have been snatched from their mothers. Unfortunately for him, he himself has very well proved the point that he does not even know the difference between a tusker and an elephant.

Malwatte and Asgiri Chapters say that the naturalist are ignite over this issue but they did not raise their voices when so many elephants were dying in areas due to the human-elephant conflict. Truth is that naturalists always raised their voice over this issue which was also caused as a result of stupid decisions that the rulers have made towards these human-elephant conflicts.

Naturalists raise their voice over things, not because they have nothing else to do but only because they care. They do not do it for money even though some may be taking advantages of situations like these. They care for the country, religion and also do respect every culture more than the people who point fingers at them.

Diyawadena Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela, says that he has being with elephants all his life and he do love them very much. His question is whether the people who speak against this issue have ever fed Kitul to an elephant. If that’s his kind of love towards elephants, then there are so many people who feed elephants near the border of Udawalawa with king coconut husks daily proving his kind of love towards the elephants.

DN challenges anyone to show an elephant that still drinks milk after three years, when The Sri Lanka wildlife Veterinarians Association has said that the baby elephants suckle till they are about five years of age and they depend on milk as a main source of nutrient. This it self shows very well about the knowledge DN has on elephants.

He also says that it was a presidential order to transport the two tukers. If so what is the point in waiting until it was night fall to snatch two underage tuskers not elephants from the orphanage when there were so many other baby elephants available.

The Naturalists and the zoologists raise their voices against these causes of injustice over animals because they cannot speak for them selves. They are in orphanages due to our very own doing to take away their natural habitats. And then we do not stop our cruelty there. Humans continue to use them for their personal use and ill- treat them.

There were so many times when elephants were taken to temples and died out due to not getting the injection which cost Rs-1200. Elephants participating Perahera only stay in Raja Maha Vihara only within that specific month and all other days they spend in Habarana engaged in making tourism enthusiasm or  spending doing chores in the private lands moving logs.

Cudgel from Diyawadena Nilame cause fury to the baby tusker		They are tuskers not elephants
Picture taken by the Young Zoologist Association of Sri Lanka