Dragon Attacks Sharon Stone's Husband

Sharon Stone is not the only one with basic instincts for her husband.

In a Father's Day surprise gone awry, Stone's spouse, San Francisco Chronicle executive editor Phil Bronstein, was attacked by a Komodo dragon at the Los Angeles Zoo Saturday.

Stone arranged a private tour of the zoo for Bronstein, who had always wanted to see a Komodo dragon up close. Upon entering the Indonesian lizard's cage, the zookeeper asked Bronstein to remove his white tennis shoes to keep the 5-foot-long reptile from mistaking them for the white rats it is fed, Bronstein told the San Francisco Chronicle.

But instead of protecting him, the bare feet apparently attracted the reptile, who attacked Bronstein's shoeless foot, crushing his big toe while thrashing its body around, said Stone, who witnessed the attack from outside the cage.

Bronstein was able to pry open the reptile's mouth and escape through a small feeding door in the cage while the zookeeper distracted the dragon, Stone said.

Bronstein underwent foot surgery Saturday to reattach severed tendons and to rebuild his big toe that was crushed by the dragon's jaws, Stone told the Chronicle.

Bronstein was in stable condition Sunday at a Los Angeles area hospital, said Chronicle spokesman Joe Brown.

"He sounded in good spirits," Brown said today. "He did say he's fated not have a boring life."

"We're very grateful for the professional care of the people at the hospital," Stone said. "And we certainly don't blame the people at the zoo."

The endangered dragons are not venomous, but are considered poisonous because several strains of septic bacteria are found in their teeth and saliva, said Los Angeles Zoo spokeswoman Lora LaMarca.

Bronstein was given antibiotics and will be monitored for infections. The dragon was not injured in the incident.

The aggressive lizard, which is known to kill members of its own species, is native only to Komodo Island and a few neighboring islands in Indonesia. It can grow up to 12 feet and weigh 300 pounds.

Stone and Bronstein married in 1998. They adopted a child they named Roan Joseph Bronstein a week after its birth on May 22, 2000 in Texas.