Show no weakness, stay cool, no matter
what happens--this was the maxim that shaped Chris'
life. Chris left his parents' house when he was 12. At age 16 he
paid his first visit to an adult jail and spent the next few years
between jail sentences. Riding around the United States, growing up "way too
fast," raising hell - getting shot, stabbed, beaten-up and left for dead
- he lived through it all. It
seemed unlikely anything would change until the fateful day in 1975
when he took a job
as a welder on the set of Roar, a movie featuring Hollywood
star Tippi
Hedren and her daughter Melanie Griffith, as well as numerous lions,
cougars, tigers, leopards . . . and two elephants.
"I live with an Elephant and an Elephant lives with me."
The Story of The Elephant Man
Salvation and friendship come in many
different forms, but few as strange and beautiful as that of Timbo the
African bull elephant and Chris Gallucci, the Elephant Man. Their friendship spawns a lifetime’s
vocation which endured for almost 30 years.
Chris was immediately fascinated by
Timbo, the gigantic bull elephant, and when the film's elephant trainer quit,
he immediately applied for the job. "Someone told me that the
elephant was the largest animal that walked the earth," Chris says.
"I knew I had to have a piece of that." To win the pachyderm’s trust
that first night, Chris chained himself up beside Timbo in his
enclosure and threw away the key. That was the start of the 30 year
long relationship; one which tamed the savage in Chris.
"My life before here was craziness," Chris recalls, "and even if you're afraid, you can't show it. And so then, here [at Shambala], that fits like a glove. My background probably helped me in the position that I'm in now. I'm ready for anything."
Once the film was finished everyone moved on – apart from Tippi and Chris. She stayed for the Ranch, setting up the “Roar Foundation” to run the “Shambala Preserve” as a home for all the stars of Roar and later for other rescued animals. Chris stayed for Timbo, the first and – quite literally - heaviest responsibility he had ever taken in his life.
Chris
and Timbo's story began to be told, in the Animal Planet cable
network's documentary on Shambala, Life With Big Cats. Guests
who visited the Preserve saw how he interacted with Timbo and Kura.
Eventually, he and Timbo were the subject of their own documentary, The Elephant Man (aka Tusks and Tattoos), which has
been shown worldwide.Chris has also been a model, posing for, among other things, an edition of the Bible. He is portrayed here as various deckhands manning the ship in the Book of Jonah, and as the injured traveler tended to by the Good Samaritan.
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Although Chris can barely write, he
kept a detailed journal during the three decades on his exceptional
life as an elephan
t trainer.
In powerful, stimulating photos, the photographer Nomi Baumgartl captures the essence of elephant man Chris Gallucci’s life: the small world of the ranch, walks with Timbo on the edge of the Mojave Desert, Chris’ daily training regime with the huge bull – and his passion for polished knives, for gleaming Harleys and, time and time again, for the giant Timbo. Alongside these photos, extracts from Chris’ diary provide a window to his soul. They betray his quiet doubts, his concerns for Timbo – large and small – and reflect the joy, fulfillment and happiness that Chris finds with the elephant. This exceptional illustrated book inspires with a silent power which captures, in words and pictures, the intensive relationship and spiritual connection between animal and man – between Timbo and Chris.
Chris Gallucci, author, biker and elephant trainer, lives in Acton, California. After Timbo’s death in 2005, Chris continued to work as Preserve Supervisor at the Shambala Preserve, later becoming Vice President in Charge of Operations. In October, 2009, Roar Foundation President Tippi Hedren relinquished her additional title of Executive Director, and honored Chris with that position.
In June, 2009, Chris kept a promise he had made to his elephant friends, journeying to Africa to lay Timbo and Kura’s spirits to rest in their natural habitat. The trip enabled him to understand them in a way he never could while they were in captivity. He is putting the film footage shot on the trip into a new documentary and is also working on a new book.