{"id":629329,"date":"2026-04-25T05:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/629329\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T05:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:01:11","slug":"us-millionaire-trophy-hunter-killed-by-herd-of-elephants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/629329\/","title":{"rendered":"US millionaire trophy hunter killed by herd of elephants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A US millionaire and enthusiastic big game hunter has died by being trampled to death by <a href=\"https:\/\/travel.nine.com.au\/destinations\/african-safari\/315bb7ee-4b75-4c68-ba48-39ef015faa55\" title=\"elephants\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">elephants<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.9news.com.au\/africa\" title=\"Africa\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Africa<\/a>.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.9news.com.au\/california\" title=\"California\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">California<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n<p>The startled elephants set upon the two, seriously hurting the guide and killing Dosio, 75.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/4679b82a-8107-475d-81b4-673597345748.jpeg\"   alt=\"Ernie Dosio was trampled to death by a herd of elephants.\"\/>Ernie Dosio was trampled to death by a herd of elephants. (Bobby Hansen Safaris)<\/p>\n<p>Despite their immense size, it is very possible to be taken by surprise by elephants in thick African forests.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I would rather not go into detail, but it is safe to assume it would have been quick,&#8221; a friend of Dosio told the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Although many disagree with big-game hunting, all Ernie&#8217;s hunts were strictly licensed and above board and were registered as conservation in culling animal numbers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dosio was on a hunt for a yellow-backed duiker, a forest-dwelling antelope.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/b02d911c-6ff7-45dd-bb6c-9470fb3d1543.jpeg\"   alt=\"Ernie Dosio with a lion killed in an earlier hunt.\"\/>Ernie Dosio with a lion killed in an earlier hunt. (Bobby Hansen Safaris)<\/p>\n<p>Duikers are shy and known to blindly sprint away from danger, making them a difficult animal to hunt. They are listed as near-threatened.<\/p>\n<p>Dosio ran a winery in California&#8217;s Central Valley west of San Francisco.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Dosio was also a beloved and long-serving member of the Elks, a fraternal order.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is with a most heavy heart and sadness that I am reporting the passing of Ernie Dosio earlier this week,&#8221; a statement from Elks Lodi Lodge secretary Tommy Whitman said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;May all of our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He will be sorely missed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The African forest elephant is a critically endangered animal. There are tens of thousands of them in Gabon.<\/p>\n<p>Gabon is known for its dense forests, an ideal habitat for that species of elephant.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/910d4cc6-f955-4b9b-928f-f5cd22261a80.jpeg\"   alt=\"A forest elephant in Gabon.\"\/>A forest elephant in Gabon. (Adobe Stock)<\/p>\n<p>NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A US millionaire and enthusiastic big game hunter has died by being trampled to death by elephants in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":["post-629329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}