In 2001, actress Sharon Stone arranged a private visit for her then-husband, investigative journalist Phil Bronstein, to the Komodo dragon pen at the Los Angeles Zoo as a Father’s Day gift. He had always wanted to see the reptiles up close, but he got more than he bargained for. As he went into the dragon pen with a zookeeper, one of the lizard’s began licking Bronstein’s white shoes. The zookeeper would later say that the shoes might have reminded the animal of its white rat meals. Following the zookeeper’s advice, Bronstein removed his shoes and socks to avoid tempting the dragon. Then, as he moved into a better position to take a photo with the animal, it lunged. The predator soon had Bronstein’s foot in its mouth, jerking it back and forth. Bronstein managed to wrench the dragon’s jaw open and throw it from his foot. He then dragged himself out of the cage as the lizard came at him from behind. The top half of Bronstein’s food was gone. He managed to survive the incident and didn’t press charges, though Stone complained that the zoo continued to allow visits with the carnivorous animals following the incident. Meanwhile, Bronstein underwent surgery to reattach several tendons and to rebuilt his big toe that was crushed by the dragon’s jaws. The aggressive lizard is native only to Komodo Island in Indonesia and can grow up to 12 feet and weigh 300 pounds.
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| Stone and Bronstein |
