The December 9 mass oil spill in Bangladesh near the Sunderbans, home of the Royal Bengal Tigers has left the people of Bangladesh in despair.

Almost 350,000 liters of oil was spilled into the world’s largest mangrove forest after a tanker carrying furnace oil collided with another vessel. When the tanker was finally brought onshore, there were only 200 liters of oil still remaining on the boat.

In an article on sciencemag.org, Brian D. Smith, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society Asian and Freshwater and Coastal Cetacean Program says Bangladesh’s “government was totally unprepared for this.”

Bangladesh is home to some of the most rare and beautiful species in the world. The spill has taken a huge impact on two rare river dolphin species: the Irrawaddy and Ganges. In a press release Smith says one Irrawaddy dolphin was discovered dead only two days after the spill. He adds “we don’t encounter Irrawaddy dolphin carcasses very often.”

Until the United Nations sent a team of international experts to help aid the cleanup, children between the ages of 10 and 16 seemed to be the only ones who were cleaning up the spill – and with their bare hands. The Bangladesh authorities have been relying on villagers and fishermen to scoop up the goo and thick tar out of the water and riverbanks with sponges and pans.

Local authorities are being slammed for not only dealing with the situation so poorly, but also putting the lives of their people at an even higher risk by making them do the cleanup without the proper protective gear.

Many Bangladeshis have taken to social media to draw attention to this disaster and share their outrage against authorities. Ishtiague Hossain posted on the Earth We Are One (EWAO) Facebook page a gruesome picture of a dead Royal Bengal Tiger floating in a nearby river bed. He also desperately begged for help, saying “is there anyone in this group that can help us?” According to Hossain, the Bangladesh government is not doing anything to help.

The situation in Bangladesh is extremely tense right now, and with the people lashing out in anger, it seems the tension will only continue to grow unless something is done, and soon.