A prominent American big-game and trophy-hunter has meet a gruesome fate during an expedition to Gabon this week, after his attempt to add to his collection went horribly wrong. Ernie Dosio lost his life when a herd of elephants crushed him to death.
ALSO READ: ‘Man of the people’ Farage fumes at trail hunting ban
Who is Ernie Dosio? Well-known trophy-hunter dies by the sword
Dosio is a farily big name in hunting circles, and retained a membership at a prestigious safari club based in California. Trips to Africa were routine for the 75-year-old, who owned multiple vineyards across the state in which he has resided for most of his life.
It is understood that, while Dosio and his group were traversing through the Lope-Okanda rainforest, they ended up startling a group of five female elephants and one of their calves. Fiercely protective of their young, the mammals exited their docile state.
They charged at the hunter, killing him in the process. It has also been reported that the guide leading Dosio and the others was ‘severely injured’ in the melee, sparked by the human presence which ‘startled’ the jungle-dwelling creatures.
Elephants charge at hunting group, killing one and hurting others
Routine searches online show that Mr. Dosio was extremely proud and brazen about his hunting exploits, displaying his ‘trophies’ across social media and within his residencies. He previously boasted about the range of animals he had killed.
As per quotes shared with The Guardian, another hunter who was familiar with Dosio offered up a defence for him, stating that all of his hunts were ‘above board’ and ‘in line with animal conservation law’. However, it ultimately proved to be ‘the law of the jungle’ which had the last say here.
“Ernie has been hunting since he could hold a rifle and has many trophies from Africa and the US. 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.” | Guardian Source
ALSO READ: Pro-foxhunting group wants UK hunters to become a protected ethnic minority