Animal rights activists are outraged over the improper treatment of a giant panda at a Shanxi zoo, dubbed the “world’s saddest panda”.

The scandal erupted October 5 after a Weibo user posted photographs of a giant panda at the Taiyuan Zoo eating garbage thrown into its pen by visitors. In addition to cookies and fruit rinds, visitors threw balloons and water bottles.

The account that first posted the photographs placed the blame squarely on the zoo, claiming they were unfit to keep China’s treasured national mascot:

The Taiyuan Zoo doesn’t deserve to keep pandas!!!! Don’t know if it’s Porkball or Shunshun which is eating garbage thrown by the visitors!! This photo was taken in the outdoor area! But what’s important is that there isn’t anyone looking after them!! Can’t find any zookeepers! Can’t find any minders!! Makes me so angry!

A number of Webio users echoed the outrage at the way the zoo was treating its pandas, with some calling for the pandas to be taken away. One person said, “What is this? Is this a zoo, or a garbage dump?!!!” While another said, “Rescind the right for Taiyuan Zoo to keep pandas!”

Other netizens focused their anger at a different target, with one asking: “Aren’t the visitors more deserving of being criticized?”

The China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas took to Weibo to press the Taiyuan Zoo for an explanation. The zoo confirmed the panda seen in the photographs is Shunshun, one of the two pandas currently in its care, and apologized. It vowed to increase zoo staff to prevent visitors from throwing trash in the future.

The Taiyuan Zoo said it had 15,000 visitors on October 5th, and that some of them had thrown garbage inside the panda pen. It added that the pandas have since been moved inside, and are both in good health.

A day later, the Weibo account for the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas published photos showing a spotless panda pen (shown below).

This is not the first time Chinese tourists have been caught throwing garbage into animal pens.

Last May, three fallow deer at the Shanghai Zoo died after eating plastic bags fed to them by zoo visitors. In 2013, ten crocodiles at the Shenzhen Zoo were killed by rocks thrown by zoo visitors. And just last month, a giraffe that died from eating plastic bags at a Wuxi zoo was stuffed and mounted to serve as a warning for zoo visitors not to feed the animals.