LOS ANGELES - A rare 10-foot Komodo dragon at the Los Angeles zoo has mauled San Francisco Chronicle Executive Editor Phil Bronstein in the foot, causing serious damage that required surgery, the newspaper reported on Sunday.
It said Bronstein, husband of actress Sharon Stone, was in stable condition on Sunday in a Los Angeles hospital after being attacked on Saturday by the giant lizard which crushed his big toe.
Doctors had to reattach severed tendons and rebuild the casing of his big toe, the paper reported.
The animal, an Indonesian species, attacked while Bronstein and a zookeeper were inside its cage on a behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo.
"He was in the Komodo dragon cage when he was bitten. We have a number of celebrities who want to go behind the scenes and he had a fondness for these dragons, according to his wife," zoo spokeswoman Lora LaMarca told Reuters.
Bronstein was shoeless at the time of the attack, according to the Chronicle.
He had been wearing white tennis shoes but because the dragon is fed white rats, the zookeeper suggested Bronstein remove his shoes so the dragon did not mistake them for its next meal.
The dragon, which has serrated teeth designed for ripping flesh, clamped down on Bronstein's foot and thrashed its body around, Stone, who was watching from outside the cage, told the Chronicle.
Stone said Bronstein grabbed the jaws of the reptile and pried them open before escaping through the small feeding door of the cage while the zookeeper fended off the dragon.
The paper said the dragon's teeth harbor septic bacteria, so Bronstein was treated with antibiotics and will be monitored for possible infection.
Stone told the Chronicle the tour had been a surprise early father's day gift for Bronstein, who had always wanted to see an endangered Komodo dragon up close.
LaMarca said the dragon, which has been quarantined, was four years old and was usually mild-tempered. "This was totally unexpected," she said.