South African police say the man had just robbed a couple with a knife. He tried to escape by jumping over the Bloemfontein Zoo fence and taking refuge in the Bengal tiger's cage, reports BBC

"The man was involved in a robbery and was chased by security guards," police spokeswoman Elsa Gerber tells the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

A visitor to the zoo saw the man's body covered with bite marks lying in the cage on Sunday.

The tiger reportedly did not attempt to eat the body as he had been fed on Saturday afternoon and was not hungry, nature conservation officials tell to the South African Broadcasting Corporation

"The man was involved in a robbery and was chased by security guards," police spokeswoman Elsa Gerber adds to SABC.

Submitted on 02/11/2007

Submitted by: cwb12@telkomsa.net
Reference: BBC Dec 21, 2005

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Neutral: For Darwin's Eyes
Once again I am just undecided enough! We have the usual "getting killed while fleeing the law" situation (almost instant toss these days, as it's too common), but you HAVE to wonder...of ALL the places to hide in a zoo, why the tiger's cage? "Maybe they'll never look THERE!" was probably the victim's final thought. Oh, yes...the tigers chose not to eat him. I guess mook meat tastes bad to tigers as well!

Graham said:
Maybe Toss: For Darwin's Eyes
There's no mention of time of day here. If it happened at night, perhaps all the cages looked the same and he just jumped into one? The inconsiderate tiger could have cooperated and helped dispose of the body though. I liked this one - really dumb thing to do, tigers aside.

Chip said:
Neutral: For Darwin's Eyes
I did some searches and could not find verification on this one. Yes, this one is almost into the "too common" category but I like the twist that the tiger just was not hungry. I'll pass this one along upstairs for a ruling. Thanks cwb

Shadow said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
okay big sign thats says "TIGER", and you go in anyway.. not very bright. I say its a keeper for Darwins eyes!

Jack said:
Maybe Toss: Other
While a cursory search didn't turn up what I thought was a repeat, I must vote to toss this as stories of people entering wild animal cages are becoming too common for a good story. Sorry, but thanks anyway.

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