CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A well-known millionaire trophy hunter who owned a California winery was trampled to death by five rampaging elephants while stalking his next big game kill in Africa.
Ernie Dosio, 75, described by loved ones as a “good old country boy” who loved the outdoors, was on a $40,000 chase for a yellow-backed duiker with a professional guide in the thick Gabonese rainforest last Friday when they became the hunted.
“Whilst in the forest, Ernie and his [guide] surprised five forest elephant cows with a calf. Feeling under threat, the elephants immediately attacked them,” an ex-game hunter who was friendly with Dosio told The Post.
The duo’s view of the imposing mammals was blocked by a thick forest wall and they didn’t see the beasts gaining ground until it was too late, the pal said.
After they seemingly “appeared from nowhere,” the elephants flung the pro hunter to the side before stampeding over Dosio, who was only armed with a shotgun, the acquaintance explained.
“I would rather not go into detail, but it is safe to assume that it would have been quick.”
Meanwhile, the guide lost his hunting rifle and sustained serious injuries in the attack, said the man, who got to know Dosio through Cape Town’s hunting community.
“Ernie has been hunting since he could hold a rifle and has many trophies from Africa and the US,” he said, adding that the “very well-known and popular” victim’s big-game hunts were always “strictly licensed and above board.”
Dosio, who owned the Modesto, Calif., winery Pacific AgriLands, had a trophy room in his home packed to the brim with animal heads, including those from an elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, crocodile, zebra and leopard.
The married father of two, who belonged to hunting and safari clubs in the Sunshine State, led a fruitful life even outside of big game, his buddy said.
He was “a very keen conservationist and he did a hell of a lot of charity work — and was a really good guy.
“What happened has been deeply felt by many each side of the Atlantic,” he said.
Dosio’s body is being to be repatriated by the US Embassy in Gabon to Lodi, Calif., where he lived with his long-time wife, Betty, in the wine-growing region roughly 30 miles south of Sacramento.
He leaves behind two sons, Jeff and Blake, who followed in their father’s footsteps by entering the vineyard business.
Tommy Whitman, the secretary at Lodi Elks Lodge fraternity chapter in San Joaquin, Calif., called Dosio “our absent member” who will be “sorely missed,” and highlighted his charity work for the Californian Central District Elks movement in a touching Facebook tribute.
“Ernie always had his hand in his pocket and would help out those who needed it be it war veterans or handicapped or underprivileged kids,” Whitman wrote.
“He would never want recognition but he was always there with a loving heart…May all of our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones,” the tribute read.
A family friend said Dosio held a monthly charity function at the Elks Lodge, where attendees included judges, heads of local vineyards and “big names from industry and commerce.
“Ernie with his big mustache was larger than life but did not show it off, although he had money…he was a just a farmer and good old country boy who loved to hunt and fish,” the relative said.
Gabon is home to around two-thirds of the remaining global elephant population – with an estimated 95,000 forest elephants.
American millionaire and big game hunter Asher Watkins, 52, was brutally gored to death by a buffalo he was stalking with a guide in Limpopo Province, South Africa, last August.
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