Bite Boosts Zoo’s Fund-Raiser

For the first time since a misguided attempt at a noontime snack made him the world’s most famous lizard, Komo the Komodo dragon on Saturday night faced the very benefactors who have made possible his comfortable existence at the Los Angeles Zoo.

As about 1,000 donors gathered for the Beastly Ball--the zoo’s largest annual fund-raiser--Komo betrayed no hint of shame for his lapse in decorum, no remorse for taking that notorious chomp on a newspaper editor’s toe.

In fact, Komo slept through much of the lavish party--sprawled on a rock in his enclosure, tail drooping into a small pond, orange eyes rolled back in his head, oblivious to the stir he had caused. He did not wake up until knots of donors gathered outside his enclosure as his dinner hour approached.

As the guests who had paid $300 a ticket made their way through the zoo during the after-hours party, it was clear that Komo’s well-documented deed had made him more of a celebrity than a pariah.

Dressed in tropical or safari clothing and sampling food and drink at tables and booths throughout the zoo grounds, the guests made Komo the topic of conversation all evening.

“I’m sure I’m not the first to ask,” one partygoer asked zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo as he greeted arriving donors, “but are those dragons behind the cage?”

A week earlier, Phil Bronstein, executive editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, and his wife, actress Sharon Stone, had come to the zoo for a behind-the-scenes look at Komo and the zoo’s other Komodo dragon, Modo.

The visit was an early Father’s Day gift to Bronstein from Stone. But when Bronstein was allowed into the lizards’ enclosure, Komo attacked him, apparently mistaking his bare foot for a white rat. Bronstein was hospitalized, requiring surgery and antibiotics.

The incident made headlines around the country, and zoo officials, quick with apologies, nonetheless could not help but relish the surge in interest--and fund-raising--that Bronstein inadvertently brought to the zoo.

Ball tickets sold out faster than in any previous year, officials said.

“The zoo has just had so much press this week,” said spokeswoman Lora LaMarca. “We got more calls than ever from people wanting to attend the ball.”

Actress Betty White, who is on the zoo commission, did numerous television interviews following the incident, in which she got the message out about the need for donations to improve the habitats for animals.

And whereas just two years ago zoo officials were complaining that Jay Leno, whose “Tonight Show” is taped just down the road, routinely invited San Diego Zoo keepers to appear, the L.A. Zoo is now mentioned every night--at least as the butt of jokes.

The zoo hopes to raise $5.5 million this year--including the estimated $600,000 take from Saturday’s event. Much of that will go toward building a new gorilla exhibit.

The behind-the-scenes tours often given to celebrities and other potential donors are a key means of bringing in contributions.

$6,000 for a Day With the Elephants

At the Beastly Ball, trustees forked over $4,000 for a table and to take part in an auction for such a tour. Three groups bid $6,000 apiece to spend a day with the elephants, while two other bidders snapped up a behind-the-scenes tour with the Sumatran tigers and a chance to name the young animals ($3,500 each). A day with the alpacas netted $900.

Director Mollinedo opened the auction with a joke about the biting incident.

“It’s amazing how many calls I’ve gotten from ladies trying to arrange behind-the-scenes tours with the Komodo dragons for their husbands,” he quipped.

Komo himself had been named by a donor who gave a quarter of a million dollars to build a new habitat for the giant lizards, who wound up at the zoo after being smuggled into the country at Los Angeles International Airport.

On Saturday night, many of the paying guests were predicting that the publicity generated by Komo’s editor-biting will help the zoo in the long run.

“I think it will get more people to come in, people who didn’t even realize the zoo has Komodo dragons,” said graphic artist Kim Arnold.

The world-famous San Diego Zoo does not allow donors or celebrities access to the animals beyond that allowed to the public, said spokesman Christina Simmons.

“We do not make unique opportunities available,” Simmons said, except when a celebrity is part of an educational campaign.

But many supporters of the Los Angeles Zoo said they hope the Komo incident will not put an end to the special-access tours here.

“I don’t want them to stop the behind-the-scenes tours because of this,” said zoo benefactor and volunteer Roz Schrank, who has been on several such tours herself. “It’s a good way to bring in money to the zoo.”

As partygoers gathered outside Komo’s enclosure, there were a lot of jokes about wearing shoes, some exclamations about the size of the small tunnel Bronstein had to crawl through to escape Komo’s jaws and a couple of remarks about the wisdom of climbing in there in the first place.

Margo Payes tapped on the glass at an awakening Komo.

“Are you feeling any remorse at all?” she cooed.

Komo didn’t answer.

*

Times staff writer Tony Perry in San Diego contributed to this story.