A 75-year-old American millionaire big-game hunter was killed after being crushed by elephants during a hunting expedition in Gabon.
Ernie Dosio, a vineyard owner from Lodi, California, was hunting yellow-backed duiker, an antelope species, in the Lopé-Okanda rainforest when he and his guide unexpectedly encountered five female elephants and a calf.
Safari operator Collect Africa confirmed that Dosio was killed and said the professional hunter guiding him was seriously injured.
Dosio owned Pacific AgriLands Inc., which manages 12,000 acres of vineyard land in Modesto and provides services and equipment financing to wine producers.
A retired hunter who knew Dosio said he had hunted since childhood and had trophies from Africa and the United States, including elephants and lions. He said Dosio’s hunts were licensed and registered as conservation efforts to cull animal populations.
The U.S. Embassy in Gabon is coordinating the return of Dosio’s remains to California.
Gabon’s forests are home to about 95,000 forest elephants, believed to be most of the species’ global population. The species is considered highly endangered.