  Two ground-based experiments have recently independently detected TeV
$\gamma$-rays from the direction of the Galactic center. The observations made
by the VERITAS and CANGAROO collaborations are unexpected, although not
impossible to interpret in terms of astrophysical sources. Here we examine in
detail whether the observed $\gamma$-rays may arise from the more exotic
alternative of annihilations of dark matter particles clustered in the center
of the Galaxy.
