CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A prominent billionaire trophy hunter who owned a California winery was trampled to death by five raging elephants as he tried to take down Africa’s next big thing.
Ernie Dosio, 75, described by his loved ones as a “good old country boy” who loves the outdoors, was chased last Friday during a $40,000 hunt for yellow duiker with a professional guide in Gabon’s dense rainforest.
“While in the woods, Ernie and his [guide] We surprised five forest elephant cows with calves. “The elephants felt threatened and immediately attacked them,” a former hunter who was friends with Dosio told the Post.
The pair’s view of the majestic mammals was blocked by a thick forest wall, and they were unable to see the beasts advance until it was too late, the friend said.
The elephant appeared to “come out of nowhere,” then threw the professional hunter aside and knocked Doshio, who was only armed with a shotgun, into the ground, an acquaintance said.
“I don’t want to go into details, but it’s safe to say we were able to respond quickly.”
Meanwhile, the man, who met Dosio through Cape Town’s hunting community, said the guide lost his hunting rifle and was seriously injured in the attack.
“Ernie has been hunting since he could hold a rifle and has many trophies from Africa and the United States,” he said, adding that the “very well-known and popular” victim’s big game hunts were always “under strict sanctioning and conducted above and beyond standards.”
Dosio, who owned the Pacific Agrilands winery in Modesto, Calif., had a trophy room filled with the heads of elephants, rhinos, lions, buffalo, alligators, zebras, leopards and other animals.
Friends said the married father of two belonged to hunting and safari clubs in the Sunshine State and had a productive life outside of big game.
He was “a very passionate conservationist, he did a lot of charity work, and he was a really good person.
“What happened is deeply felt by many on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said.
Dosio’s body will be repatriated by the U.S. Embassy in Gabon to Lodi, California, where he lived with his wife of many years, Betty, in a wine region about 30 miles south of Sacramento.
He left behind two sons, Jeff and Blake, who followed in their father’s footsteps into the vineyard business.
Tommy Whitman, secretary of the Lodi Elks Lodge fraternity chapter in San Joaquin, Calif., said Dosio was “our absent member” and “will be sorely missed” and highlighted his philanthropy to the California Central District Elks movement in a moving memorial on Facebook.
“Ernie always had his hands in his pockets to help those in need, whether they were veterans, people with disabilities, or children in need,” Whitman wrote.
“He never wanted recognition, but was always there with a loving heart…Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones,” the memorial said.
Dosio held monthly charity events at the Elks Lodge, and attendees included judges, local vineyard managers and “some notable figures from industry and commerce,” a family friend said.
“Ernie, with his big mustache, was larger than life, but although he had money, he never showed it off…He was just a farmer and a good old country boy who loved hunting and fishing,” a relative said.
Gabon is home to about two-thirds of the world’s remaining elephant population, with an estimated 95,000 forest elephants.
Asher Watkins, 52, an American billionaire and big game hunter, was brutally killed by a buffalo he and his guide were chasing in South Africa’s Limpopo province in August last year.
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