Summary

TAPE: EF01/0462 IN_TIME: 13:25:47 DURATION: 1:44 SOURCES: APTN/ABC RESTRICTIONS: DATELINE: Los Angeles, 9th June SHOTLIST: APTN File (1999) 1. MS Sharon Stone and Phil Bronstein ABC 2. GVs Komodo Dragon at Los Angeles Zoo 3. SOT Lora Lamarca (L.A. Zoo Spokeswoman): "Sharon Stone and her husband, Phil Bronstein were at the Zoo yesterday- on Saturday- on a behind the scenes tour and, at his request, he really, really wanted to be up close to a komodo dragon. And with our keeper with him, we let him into the Komodo dragon exhibit. And this particular komodo dragon is actually very tractable and very friendly and very nice and we would never have allowed anything to happen if we expected anything else. The komodo dragon did bite his foot and he was able to be taken out of the exhibit very quickly and medical help arrived." 4. CU dragon APTN File (1999) 5. File of Phil Bronstein and Sharon Stone SHARON STONE'S HUSBAND FIGHTS OFF REPTILE ATTACK Giant man-eating lizards have appeared in countless Hollywood movies but there was no one to shout 'cut' when one sunk its teeth into Phil Bronstein. As his wife, actress Sharon Stone, looked on in horror, the Komodo Dragon sunk its powerful jaws deep into the flesh of Bronstein's foot. The newspaper executive was rushed to hospital and underwent foot surgery after being attacked by the huge reptile during a visit to the Los Angeles Zoo. He remained hospitalized on Monday, two days after the attack. Bronstein was on a private tour of the zoo when he entered the Indonesian lizard's cage. The zookeeper had asked him 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. The reptile attacked Bronstein's shoeless foot, crushing his big toe while thrashing its body around, said Bronstein's wife, actress Sharon 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 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 where he is expected to remain until Monday, said Chronicle spokesman Joe Brown. "He sounded in good spirits," Brown said Sunday. "He did say he's fated not to have a boring life." The tour was arranged as a Father's Day surprise for Bronstein, who had always wanted to see a Komodo dragon up close. Stone said that they certainly didn't blame the people at the zoo for the incident. 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, meat eating 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.