San Francisco Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein - the husband of actress Sharon Stone - has had foot surgery following an attack by a Komodo dragon at a US zoo.

Bronstein was bitten on the foot in the Indonesian lizard's cage during the couple's private tour of Los Angeles zoo.

He had surgery on Saturday to reattach severed tendons and rebuild a big toe and was in a stable condition, a spokesman for the paper said.

The lizard got hold of Bronstein's foot after a zookeeper asked him to remove his white tennis shoes to keep the five-foot-long reptile from mistaking them for the white rats it is fed.

Stone, who witnessed the attack from outside the cage, said the reptile attacked Bronstein's shoeless foot, crushing his big toe while thrashing its body around.

The editor managed to pry open the reptile's mouth and escape through a small feeding door in the cage while the zookeeper distracted it, Stone said.

Bronstein is expected to leave the hospital in Los Angeles on Monday, and he told the newspaper: "I'm recovering, and I expect to be back at work this week."

The tour was arranged as a Father's Day surprise for Bronstein, who had always wanted to see a Komodo dragon up close.

"We're very grateful for the professional care of the people at the hospital," added the US actress. "We certainly don't blame the people at the zoo."

Copyright © MMIII.

This article originally appeared here.