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A California vineyard owner has died after being crushed by elephants while on a hunting expedition in Africa.
Ernie Dosio, 75, was hunting yellow-backed duikers in Gabon when the deadly April 17 incident occurred.
Dosio, who kept an extensive collection of animal heads in his home, was trampled to death when he and his guide stumbled into five female elephants with a calf in the Lope-Okanda rainforest, the Daily Mail reported.
Collect Africa, the Nigerian-based safari operator, confirmed Dosio’s death to the publication. The California-Hawaii Elks Association also confirmed Dosio’s death on Facebook.
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“It is with a most heavy heart and sadness that I am reporting the passing of Ernie Dosio earlier this week,” Tommy Whitman, secretary of Lodi Lodge 1900 and Central District Scouting chairman, wrote in a statement.
“May all of our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones. He will be sorely missed.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Gabon and the safari company.
An unnamed hunter in Cape Town who knew Dosio told the news outlet that Dosio had been “hunting since he could hold a rifle and had many trophies from Africa and the U.S.”
“Although many disagree with big game hunting, all of Ernie’s hunts were strictly licensed and above board and were registered as conservation culls to manage animal numbers,” he said.
“Ernie had booked a hunt for dwarf forest buffalo and duikers — in particular, the yellow-backed duiker — and, under strict licensing laws, he could not take along his own guns.”
The hunting company would supply a shotgun and cartridges for the duiker hunt, he said.
The hunter added he believes Dosio and his guide surprised the elephants, who attacked because they felt threatened.
“I would rather not go into detail, but it is safe to assume it would have been quick,” he said. “Ernie was a very well-known and popular hunter in the U.S. and in Africa and a very keen conservationist; he did a hell of a lot of charity work and was a really good guy. What happened has been deeply felt by many on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Dosio’s body is being repatriated to America with assistance from the U.S. Embassy.
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Dosio owned Pacific AgriLands Inc., a Modesto, California, vineyard land management company with its own 12,000-acre vineyard, according to Lodi News.
Central Africa is home to roughly 95,000 endangered forest elephants, with the largest numbers being found in Gabon, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
