Triggering Tatiana flashbacks today, we just got word that a white tiger fatally mauled a zoo keeper in a New Zealand yesterday, "just three months after the victim had saved another keeper from an attack by the same tiger." Happening at the Zion Wildlife Center in Whangarei, somewhere in Middle Earth, tiger handler Dalu Mncube succumbed to severe tearing of the abdomen. According to Times Online, "the male tiger attacked Mr Mncube with no warning, ripping at the helpless man's body as his colleague tried to fight him off with a stick and a fire extinguisher." San Francisco Zoo, if you recall, payed host to a fatal tiger attack on Christmas Day 2007 when Tatiana the tiger leaped from her grotto, attacking and killing Carlos Sousa Jr. Unlike Tatiana, however, who was shot and killed by SFPD officers, the white tiger wasn't put down. Update: We were wrong. The white tiger, one of only 120 white tigers in the world, was killed soon after the mauling.

Another mauling, y'all. This time in San Jose.

A toddler, 20-month-old Anna Leigh Cinco, and her grandmother, 48-year-old Elizabeth Cinco, were sent to the hospital with serious wounds after being mauled by the family dog. A pitbull (according to the Gate, via AP) or a boxer-mix (according to CBS 5) attacked the infant on her chin, and left bite marks on the neck, ear and right leg of the grandmother. Ouchie.

It seems that the angry pooches first "attacked the baby and Elizabeth Cinco intervened, saving her granddaughter's life." And the dogs? Have been turned over to authorities. (RIP, pups.)

Less than a week after the fatal tiger mauling at the SF Zoo, much of the news that has (slowly) unraveled from the Christmas Day tiger attacks has been disheartening. From the downplayed info about the too-short tiger pen fence, conflicting evidence that the three boys taunted the Siberian tiger just before the attack, and that emergency protocol wasn't followed by SF Zoo employees, there are more chin-scratching facts to add to the list. Take, for example, the lack of concern the two brothers felt for their dead friend, Carlos. According to a law enforcement source, as the brothers were being transported from the zoo to the hospital, "one brother told the other not to talk to anyone." The source went on to say that "they were more concerned with their car in the parking lot and that it would be okay." (Sure, people have different reactions in time of grief, but still: Ouch.)

In more news, 911 tapes were released on Friday. According to SF Examiner:

Emergency personnel were first notified at 5:08 p.m. when a Terrace Café employee called 911 saying an "agitated man is claiming he was bitten by an animal," according to the transcript.

The two brothers attacked were initially considered mentally unstable by zoo personnel and "making something up" about a tiger biting one of them, the transcript says.

The transcript depicts a scene quickly descending into fear when at 5:11 p.m. the transcript read, "The tiger is out of the gate and they are locking up the zoo."

(Ah, the year of the tiger. OK, month of the tiger. But still.)

A reader brings up an interesting point -- thanks, reader! -- who asks, "The boys had it coming. True, but can they be buried/released from the hospital before we start pointing fingers. Did this happen before 24/7 news channels existed?"

(S)he makes a good point. Surely something similarly maul-related has happened before at a zoo somewhere, yes? Happened on busier news days as well, we imagine. Animal taunting must occur on a daily basis at SF Zoo. Seeing as how the zoo must already prepared for ill-mannered youths or men who visit the place every day, the problem here is that the tiger exhibit wall "doesn't meet national standards."

And, sure, the belligerence of the now hospitalized boys raises some fingers all too easy to point. But they were scared, possibly hungover, and just witnessed the loss of a good friend in a most violent way. (Not to mention how pain killers affect one's manners. Greatly.) We don't know. We just feel bad for pointing too many fingers - righteous or not - at a couple of patients who are still surely in a Vicodin haze.

Please visit www.sfzoo.org for information as to when the Zoo will reopen to the public.

According to their site, the zoo claims to be closed "out of respect for the victims of Tuesday's incidents," although we imagine that their reverence for said tiger attack victims has waned considerably. Just saying. In all reality, the continued closure is most likely due to the ongoing investigation as to how Tatiana escaped her pen and went on a fatal beatdown.

Or, perhaps, they need to get to fixing their too-short tiger grotto wall. Oops.

(Why, yes, we do plan on running this into the ground. Thank you for asking.)

SF Zoo just released an official statement about yesterday's attack, expressing their "deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the victim killed in the December 25, 2007." They also mention that it "is anticipated that the Zoo will reopen tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. For information please visit www.sfzoo.org."

While this fatal and accidental meeting of man and beast is devastating, we can only hope -- guiltily, of course -- that yesterday's tiger attack results in an appearance by four-on-the-floor Neda Ruiz on behalf of Tatiana. Really, no fatal mauling story would be complete without her.

Anyway, check out the SF Zoo's full statement after the jump.

Update: The SF zoo will remain closed tomorrow, December 27.