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Tuesday, November 19, 2002

By Marylynne Pitz, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Just last weekend, Connie George was praising Mike Gatti for his work with the elephant herd at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium.

"I said, 'Mike, you're doing such a great job with these elephants. You're really good at it,' " George recalled yesterday.

Mr. Gatti, a quiet, private man from New York, thanked George and told her, in a thick New York accent, "This is the job that I want to do."

Mr. Gatti, 46, of Butler, died yesterday morning when a mother elephant butted her head against his chest after he told her to move. The elephant continued pushing on Mr. Gatti with her head after he fell to the ground.

Mr. Gatti had worked with elephants at the Bronx Zoo before coming to Pittsburgh nearly six years ago. Before his stint in the Bronx, Mr. Gatti was employed at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Gatti had an even-handed approach to handling elephants.

"He was always consistent in the way that he asked them to do things. They were never confused by what Mike wanted," George said.

A very fit man who stood more than 6 feet tall, Mr. Gatti trained with Willie Theison, the Pittsburgh Zoo's elephant manager and lead elephant keeper.

In late September, Theison took a sabbatical from the zoo to start an African elephant breeding program at the Wuppertal Zoo in Wuppertal, Germany. Theison, who is still a consultant to the Pittsburgh Zoo, is due to return to Pittsburgh next month, George said.

Being an elephant keeper is physically demanding.

"When you're working with elephants, you work out. You carry a lot of manure and a lot of hay. It's a very labor intensive job," George said.

Mr. Gatti's boss, Amos Morris, "pretty much risked his life to try to help when this happened," George said.

Morris said yesterday that Mr. Gatti was a dedicated elephant keeper who cared deeply about the animals he tended.

When Theison decided to go to Germany, the elephant keepers met to decide if they would still walk the animals during his absence.

"Amos said that Mike wanted to continue walking the elephants," George said. "He had worked at the Bronx Zoo with elephants. He has a lot of elephant handling experience."

Mr. Gatti is survived by his wife, Mary, and his mother, Marian, both of Butler.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete yesterday.