The panda research center partnering with the show endorsed the cubs’ treatment but the outrage is real.

Giant pandas are appreciated all over the world because look at them. But in China, where they're dubbed a "national treasure," the love is hardwired into you from birth.

The panda-obssessed country even got a state-run panda website dedicated to live-broadcast pandas' daily lives 24/7 for the panda fans that are a little bit intense.

...Panda.

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That's why many people were furious to learn about a TV reality show being filmed called "Giant Panda Fantasy" that has cut at least one one-year-old cub away from its mother's nurturing.

A trending page on Weibo, #BoycottGiantPandaFantasy, has reached more than four million views and got thousands of comments, after a panda fan noticed photos posted on the account of one of the celebrities tasked with raising the young panda on the show. The fan wrote a long article to condemn the entertainment industry meddling with animals' natural environment and urged for the cub to be returned to its mother.

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People also criticized the program for putting pandas into close contact with a group of celebrities, and a bigger crew behind the camera, for up to 100 days.

The photos have since been deleted from their original source.

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Weibo user "Zhouguli" — who first discovered the photo that launched the controversy — says that life of the family of Qing Qing, one panda recruited by the program from Wolong National Nature Reserve, has been turned upside down, with a sharp drop in sleep and loss of appetite.

The user claims to be a big fan of Qing Qing, and has been monitoring them through the panda channel mentioned earlier. BuzzFeed News has reached out to the user for comment.

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