Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it. Yes you got it right.. Darwin awards are for idiots whose idiocy proves fatal. Once again–Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it. These awards are named in honor of the father of evolution – Charles Darwin.
In 1996, the runner up to the Darwin’s Award was a Calcutta (Kolkata) man – Prakesh Tewari. This young man and his friend Suresh Rai- got drunk at a New Year Party. The next morning, 1-1-1996, they decided to greet and wish “Shiva” the male tiger at Kolkata Zoo. They must have been certain that the poor tiger had never celebrated any New Year. They procured some marigold (a yellow flower) garlands and jumped into the tiger enclosure. They crossed the moat and started weaving their drunken way towards the far corner where Shiva was basking in the sun. They were holding out the garlands in with both hands so as to make it clear to the tiger that they intended no harm. The tiger, being a tiger, was in no mood to take any crap from any body, least of all from two drunken “suitors” out to garland him. As they neared the tiger, Suresh Rai panicked and threw the garland at Shiva. The tiger attacked him immediately. Prakesh Tewari, in a bid to help his friend- delivered a face-kick to the tiger. This enraged the tiger so much that he immediately changed targets and went for Tewari’s neck. In a flash, Tewari’s lifeless body could be seen, his head dangling.
Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it. Prakesh Tewari was the runner up in 1996. Read about him at http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1996-02.html
In 2007, there was another strong contender for the Darwin Award. The location this time was Guwahati Zoo. A man deliberately violated Zoo regulations and all safety precautions as he tried to photograph a Royal Bengal Tiger from up close. He probably wanted a clear view not spoilt by the Grill, Mesh Wire etc. So the gentleman put his hand, holding the camera, all the way in the enclosure aiming for a tiger sitting at a “safe” distance. The other tiger, on a round, grabbed his hand and yanked it off. Basically ripped the entire arm in a gory shower of blood,skin, bone and muscle. Dozens of visitors and some family members could only look on helplessly. A tragic end to a budding photographer.
All Darwin Award aspirants must remember that a tiger shall always be a tiger and that, for their own escapades- risky ventures- they themselves alone shall deserve all the credit- all the blame and all the ridicule. All 100% of it.
The tiger does not want any part of it.
Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.
In the year 2000, in Colorado- a similar story had been enacted. A “guide” had her arm ripped & torn off by a Siberian tiger in the zoo. You can either read about it at http://www.darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid2000-06.html or continue:
A twenty-eight-year-old wildlife volunteer at the Prairie Wind Animal Refuge was demonstrating the gentility of a captive Siberian tiger to visitors when the tiger demonstrated a more familiar trait of its species and ripped her arm off.
The woman had been a volunteer for two years. When a group of visitors enquired whether the refuge had problems with people sticking their hands in the cages, she placed her arm inside the tiger cage and beckoned a full-grown two-year-old animal. The tiger, which was new to the facility, sauntered over and began to lick the woman’s hand in an apparent display of affection. When the woman playfully scratched the tiger’s nose, the animal recoiled and closed its jaws around her hand.
The woman discovered that the tiger did not intend to return her arm, and pulled away in a panic. Another tour guide reported that the beast worked its way up her shoulder in two seconds and tore her arm off at the socket. He said he tried to retrieve the arm, but “the tiger did not want to give it back.”
Though the arm was not found, the remaining woman was airlifted to a nearby hospital and treated for an accidental amputation. But the tender-hearted tour guide bore no ill will toward the cat, and begged authorities from her hospital bed not to put down the animal as punishment for for its unsavory meal choice.
Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.
