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US millionaire trophy hunter killed by herd of elephants

April 25, 2026 - 2.51am

A US millionaire and enthusiastic big game hunter has died by being trampled to death by elephants in Africa.

California vineyard owner Ernie Dosio was in dense forest in the country of Gabon when he and his guide stumbled upon five female elephants and a calf.

The startled elephants set upon the two, seriously hurting the guide and killing Dosio, 75.

Ernie Dosio was trampled to death by a herd of elephants. Bobby Hansen Safaris

Despite their immense size, it is very possible to be taken by surprise by elephants in thick African forests.

"I would rather not go into detail, but it is safe to assume it would have been quick," a friend of Dosio told the Daily Mail.

"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 on a hunt for a yellow-backed duiker, a forest-dwelling antelope.

Ernie Dosio with a lion killed in an earlier hunt. Bobby Hansen Safaris

Duikers are shy and known to blindly sprint away from danger, making them a difficult animal to hunt. They are listed as near-threatened.

Dosio ran a winery in California's Central Valley west of San Francisco.

An enthusiast big game hunter, his trophy room was full of animals, including what appears to be a taxidermied lion, and the heads of a hippo and rhinoceros.

Dosio was also a beloved and long-serving member of the Elks, a fraternal order.

"It is with a most heavy heart and sadness that I am reporting the passing of Ernie Dosio earlier this week," a statement from Elks Lodi Lodge secretary Tommy Whitman said.

"May all of our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones.

"He will be sorely missed."

The African forest elephant is a critically endangered animal. There are tens of thousands of them in Gabon.

Gabon is known for its dense forests, an ideal habitat for that species of elephant.