An American millionaire big-game hunter has died after being crushed by a group of elephants during a hunting expedition in Gabon. Ernie Dosio, a 75-year-old vineyard owner from California, was hunting yellow-backed duiker, an antelope species, in the Lope-Okanda rainforest when the incident occurred last Friday.
Dosio and his guide unexpectedly came across five female elephants accompanied by a calf. The guide sustained serious injuries in the encounter. Safari operator Collect Africa confirmed the death of its client.
A retired hunter who knew Dosio said he had been hunting since he could hold a rifle and had many trophies from Africa and the US. The source added that all of Dosio's hunts were strictly licensed and above board, registered as conservation in culling animal numbers. The elephants were described as being 'surprised' by the presence of the hunters.
Dosio owned Pacific AgriLands Inc, a company managing 12,000 acres of vineyard land in Modesto, and provided services and equipment financing to wine producers. Officials from the US embassy in Gabon are coordinating the return of his remains to California.
Gabon's forests are home to approximately 95,000 forest elephants, most of the species' global population, which are considered highly endangered. The trophy-hunting industry claims tens of thousands of wild animals each year, with legal hunting tours popular among some wealthy Americans.
