Welcome! Beautiful, Happy Girl! Shastyuh!
I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new Siberian Tiger for months, since I heard of the acquisition through the grapevine.
Once I found out her name, I was able to do some research online and find out more about her. Shastyuh, is a ten year old female, gorgeous and a big fluffy scruff! I couldn't wait to meet her!
The news of the acquisition hadn't gotten around to many, so I had hoped the Zoo would make the transfer quietly and let her get settled without much fan-fare. Not because she didn't deserve to be celebrated, but because of the past I thought the obvious way to go, was low-key.
True to form (in my opinion) the Zoo "officials" team (PR I would assume) seems to like to take every opportunity at publicity, good or bad, just to get their name out there. News items in April of the Zoo's annual fundraiser Zoofest, it was reported that the Zoo had auctioned off the rights to rename Shastyuh, and therefore publicly announcing her impending arrival.
When I read this, I felt sick. I knew along with publicly announcing a new female Siberian, at every mention of this lovely new addition, her name would always be side by side with the fate of Tatiana, the female Siberian who preceded her at the Zoo. I didn't think Shastyuh or the Zoo needed this.
In my opinion, there was absolutely no reason to bring attention to her arrival. Other than to gain publicity. Last year the Zoo acquired a new female African Lion, there was no press release for her. The only reason is publicity and with the connection of the Tatiana event the Zoo knows they will always get it. Well San Francisco Zoo, is this the type of publicity you wanted?
I have been Googling news results waiting for something to appear, as Shastyuh has been out on exhibit three days now. I saw her yesterday and she is gorgeous and seems like a great soul. She was smiling and looked happy! Every photo I took of her she is smiling, with her little tongue hanging out! According to her Keepers, she is a playful girl and talks alot! She is still getting used to her new surroundings and has been alittle shy. You would not get any of this from the article I just read.
The online version of The San Francisco Chronicle just posted an article, written by Stephanie Lee, that featured a photo of Shastyuh (aka Martha her donor name) making a nasty face, that could be a snarl or the unfolding of a yawn. That photo sends a sensationalized message to feed off what I consider misleading journalism.
WHY would a journalist who I assume wants to be respected, want to keep riding the coat tails of an event that happened two and a half years ago, and in doing so with the wording and photo, create a negative surrounding this lovely animals arrival? It is pure irresponsibility.
Additionally it included statements from "Zoo officials, ... the staff was ready and the grounds secured."
WHY would the Zoo release statements that make it sound like up until now the Staff has been incapable and Zoo has been unsafe? The Zoo continually puts out curious statements, one would have to wonder what their thought process is.
I was disgusted by the whole thing.
You can read the article and view the photo here: ... my sweet pic is at the lead of this post.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/27/BAB91K3C4N.DTL
ADDED: Please note the following post, "WOW! Chronicle quickly changed its tune!" It is a follow-up to this one.
Once I found out her name, I was able to do some research online and find out more about her. Shastyuh, is a ten year old female, gorgeous and a big fluffy scruff! I couldn't wait to meet her!
The news of the acquisition hadn't gotten around to many, so I had hoped the Zoo would make the transfer quietly and let her get settled without much fan-fare. Not because she didn't deserve to be celebrated, but because of the past I thought the obvious way to go, was low-key.
True to form (in my opinion) the Zoo "officials" team (PR I would assume) seems to like to take every opportunity at publicity, good or bad, just to get their name out there. News items in April of the Zoo's annual fundraiser Zoofest, it was reported that the Zoo had auctioned off the rights to rename Shastyuh, and therefore publicly announcing her impending arrival.
When I read this, I felt sick. I knew along with publicly announcing a new female Siberian, at every mention of this lovely new addition, her name would always be side by side with the fate of Tatiana, the female Siberian who preceded her at the Zoo. I didn't think Shastyuh or the Zoo needed this.
In my opinion, there was absolutely no reason to bring attention to her arrival. Other than to gain publicity. Last year the Zoo acquired a new female African Lion, there was no press release for her. The only reason is publicity and with the connection of the Tatiana event the Zoo knows they will always get it. Well San Francisco Zoo, is this the type of publicity you wanted?
I have been Googling news results waiting for something to appear, as Shastyuh has been out on exhibit three days now. I saw her yesterday and she is gorgeous and seems like a great soul. She was smiling and looked happy! Every photo I took of her she is smiling, with her little tongue hanging out! According to her Keepers, she is a playful girl and talks alot! She is still getting used to her new surroundings and has been alittle shy. You would not get any of this from the article I just read.
The online version of The San Francisco Chronicle just posted an article, written by Stephanie Lee, that featured a photo of Shastyuh (aka Martha her donor name) making a nasty face, that could be a snarl or the unfolding of a yawn. That photo sends a sensationalized message to feed off what I consider misleading journalism.
WHY would a journalist who I assume wants to be respected, want to keep riding the coat tails of an event that happened two and a half years ago, and in doing so with the wording and photo, create a negative surrounding this lovely animals arrival? It is pure irresponsibility.
Additionally it included statements from "Zoo officials, ... the staff was ready and the grounds secured."
WHY would the Zoo release statements that make it sound like up until now the Staff has been incapable and Zoo has been unsafe? The Zoo continually puts out curious statements, one would have to wonder what their thought process is.
I was disgusted by the whole thing.
You can read the article and view the photo here: ... my sweet pic is at the lead of this post.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/27/BAB91K3C4N.DTL
ADDED: Please note the following post, "WOW! Chronicle quickly changed its tune!" It is a follow-up to this one.
Beautiful Girl Shastyuh !!! I am so glad she has arrived safely and I can spend many years visiting her. On the otherhand, I am extremely concerned about why the zoo feels they still have to piggyback of the negativity and drag Tatiana into the mix almost 3 yrs later. Kudos for your beautiful photo of a very content Tiger. What was PR at the zoo thinking to post a photo of a snarling Tiger? They always seem to mention, "moving forward, positive, etc", but that is not so. They still drag up the Tiger Incident. Let's all get to know the new and beautiful addition to the SF Zoo and maybe the zoo can utilize a newspaper person that can make this a positive and not copy old negative views that only pose future problems. Welcome Shastyuh... you are beautiful. And SF Zoo, please get to know your animals and move forward please. You are not showing respect to the animals that live there.
ReplyDelete@Lee Anderson - Thank you for your comment. Glad you enjoyed my photo! Shastyuh is a cutie! I know she will be a fun cat once she gets comfortable. ... I went to bed last night bothered by this, and woke up this morning still bothered. I take this all personally because I care about the animals, I wish the Zoo "officials" (Management) did the same. In my opinion they don't. I'm sure there is no one at Management level who see's anything wrong with this. ... It seems the photo was taken by a Chronicle contributor, BUT if the Zoo had provided their own photo then the sensationalized one that was printed would not have led to the "piggyback" on the negativity of the Tatiana event, that was also reported. Director Tanya Peterson who is quoted in this article and I know for a fact was present when some Media were at the Lion House to cover this story, should have made sure that members of the Media were given information ABOUT Shastyuh (Martha). There is not one word about her personality, how's she's adjusting, nothing. The complete FAIL of this is with the writer Stephanie Lee for irresponsible and incomplete reporting AND the Zoo team for obviously not providing relevant positive information, instead lending a hand to surround the arrival of this wonderful new girl with the stigma of past events. SHAME on all of you! What is wrong with people who are officially responsible? I did a better job providing a photo and details. You know why? I CARE!
ReplyDeleteI found parts of the article to be very irritating, especially the quote by the director. First of all, I agree, there was no need to tie in this event with what happened to Tatiana. And for the director to say that she hopes this brings "some closure" is ridiculous...how many times is she going to use that line? For those of us who went to the zoo on a regular basis and were affected by the death of Tatiana, there will never be closure. And what's this about "renewed hope" - hope for what? there are some wonderful animals and keepers that already make it a wonderful place to visit. I don't think the zoo needs renewed hope; I think it needs new leadership.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - Thank you for your comment! The Zoo Director Tanya Peterson and other Management continually choose bad wording. In fact, a friend sent me another news article, from CBS I think it was and the Head of Marketing and PR is quoted saying there are two Snow Leopards. Sadly, Ming Wah passed a couple weeks ago. She should have known this, but it just proves how Management can't keep things straight and constantly fumble. ... The Animals and the Keepers are the core of the Zoo. Management not only doesn't realize that, they don't respect that. You have hit it on target, OUR ZOO NEEDS NEW LEADERSHIP! ... I visited Miss Shastyuh today and she was having a grand time checking out her yard and listening to the evening vocalizations of her Big Cat neighbors! ... you can view my videos and photos from today, respectively at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_2bqZn36tM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvoT3A4tIpw
http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/6514 (upload in progress as of this posting)