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 Lodi, California, was hunting yellow-backed duiker in the Lope-Okanda rainforest when he and his guide unexpectedly encountered five female elephants with a calf.
The incident occurred last Friday. Safari operator Collect Africa confirmed the death of its client, while the professional hunter guiding Dosio sustained serious injuries. A retired hunter who knew Dosio said all his hunts were strictly licensed and registered as conservation culling.
Dosio owned Pacific AgriLands Inc, which manages 12,000 acres of vineyard land in Modesto. The US embassy in Gabon is coordinating the return of his remains to California. Gabon's forests are home to around 95,000 forest elephants, most of the species' global population, which are considered highly endangered.
Trophy hunting remains a multimillion-dollar industry in Africa, popular with some wealthy Americans. Last year, another American hunter was killed by a buffalo in South Africa.
