Camel Defies San Diego Zoo Ban, Reads "Southside"

Openly defying an official order that banned the crime novel "Southside" from the San Diego Zoo, Mongo the Camel read the crime thriller at the tourist attraction Wednesday while thousands of visitors tried in vain to get his attention. 

Zoo officials, who had banned the critically acclaimed novel Monday in an effort to keep humans from reading  it - and therefore ignoring the animals -  were dumbfounded by Mongo's blatant ignoring of zoo rules as well as his apparent fascination with the Michael Krikorian book, 

Sources within the zoo quoted Mongo, a Bactrian or "Two Hump" camel from the Gobi Desert in the  Southside of Mongolia, as saying "Southside was the best book I've read since "Life of Pi'". 

Christi Carreno, a zoo events organizer, said that while the ban is still officially in effect,  zoo officials would meet in an emergency session today to consider all possibilities. "We want what's best for the animals and if they want to read Southside, then maybe the ban will be lifted for them. But, not for humans."

A Cape Buffalo, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said "We're gonna read Southside. That's not the question. The question is are we going to read legally or illegally. Me, I don't give a damn. I'm just waiting on my copy from Amazon. You feel me?"

Mongo reads the Krikorian thriller