An American big game hunter was trampled to death by a group of five forest elephants with a calf in Gabon last week, following a lifelong interest in hunting, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Ernie Dosio, 75, a California wine vineyard owner, was hunting small forest antelope with a professional guide in the Lopé-Okanda National Park when the incident occurred. He encountered a herd of elephants, including a calf, during his expedition.
The herd was startled and quickly charged at Dosio and his guide. The professional guide was seriously injured during the encounter when he was tossed aside by the frightened animals and lost his rifle in the thick vegetation, leaving Dosio with only a shotgun for defense.
"I would rather not go into detail, but it is safe to assume it would have been quick," a local hunter commented.
According to the Daily Mail, a retired game hunter who knew Dosio said he had been hunting "since he could hold a rifle" and had many "trophies." He added, "Although many disagree with big game hunting, all Ernie's hunts were strictly licensed and above board and were registered as conservation in culling animal numbers."
Dosio was reportedly hunting the rare yellow-backed duiker, a forest-dwelling antelope considered "near threatened" by the IUCN Red List, whose numbers are declining from habitat loss and poaching.
The big game hunter also held a license to hunt dwarf forest buffalo in Gabon, which are also listed as "near threatened" and facing population decline due to hunting, habitat loss, and disease from domestic cattle.
The Daily Mail also published photos of Dosio posing with some of his "trophies," including a lion and an elephant. Poaching has resulted in 90% of African elephants being killed within the last 100 years, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Another photo shows one of the hunter's trophy rooms, with a rhinoceros head on the wall. Rhinos have also seen their numbers fall due to poaching. Many rhino subspecies are critically endangered, such as the Sumatran rhino, whose population is down to just a few dozen.
Dosio's retired hunter friend added, "'Ernie was a very well-known and popular hunter in the U.S. and in Africa and a very keen conservationist, and he did a hell of a lot of charity work and was a really good guy."
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