A big-game hunter from California was killed on April 17 by an elephant after his hunting party stumbled on a small herd of the animals in the dense forests of Gabon in central Africa, according to the Sacramento Safari Club and a former hunting partner.
The hunter, Ernie Dosio, 75, and two professional hunters were tracking yellow-backed duikers, a species of forest-dwelling antelope, when they were surprised by a group of female elephants with calves, said Dax McCarty, the head of hunting operations at Wagonhound Outfitters in Wyoming, and a close friend of Mr. Dosio. Mr. McCarty said he had received permission from Mr. Dosio’s family to discuss the episode with The New York Times.
Mr. McCarty said that the hunting party had backed off from the female elephants — which can be more aggressive in the presence of calves — but that the herd, which was about 150 yards away, charged in an attempt to scare the hunters away.
The animals charged again, getting to within about 25 yards, Mr. McCarty said, and an elephant attacked one of Mr. Dosio’s hunting partners, seriously injuring him.
Another, uninjured hunter grabbed Mr. Dosio and tried to get him to safety behind a tree, but one of the elephants attacked again, fatally goring Mr. Dosio with her tusk, said Mr. McCarty, who was not present during the attack.
Mr. Dosio’s remains are in Gabon awaiting repatriation to the United States, according to Mr. McCarty and the Sacramento Safari Club, where Mr. Dosio was a member. Mr. Dosio lived in Lodi, Calif., about 45 minutes south of Sacramento.
The U.S. Embassy in Gabon did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Mr. Dosio was the owner of Pacific AgriLands, a farm management company based in Modesto that works with local vineyards.
A representative for the company, where Mr. Dosio’s son, Jeff Dosio, serves as president, declined to comment. Jeff Dosio and his brother, Shane Dosio, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ernie Dosio was an experienced hunter who sought big-game targets in the United States and abroad. In photos published by Wagonhound and other hunting organizations, he is shown next to the bodies of a male lion, an elk and a gemsbok, a large antelope native to Africa, among other animals.
Mr. Dosio had employed Collect Africa, a safari company based in Coral Gables, Fla., for the hunting trip to Gabon, according to the Sacramento Safari Club.
On its website, Collect Africa advertises itself as “dedicated and committed to assisting you in finding and preparing the best safari possible to achieve your African hunting goals.”
A representative for the company did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Mr. McCarty said Mr. Dosio had become a regular hunting client of Wagonhound’s over a decade ago, and that they had become close, hunting elk, deer and fowl together. They last hunted together in November, when they tracked white-tailed deer in Wyoming.
Mr. Dosio was very generous and charitable, and heavily involved in the local community, Mr. McCarty said. He was a “modest guy who worked his tail off to earn what he had,” he said.
Mr. Dosio, a longtime Elks member, received a tribute this week from Tommy Whitman, the secretary of Lodi Lodge 1900.
“May all of our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones,” he said on Facebook on Thursday. Mr. Dosio had held the rank of “great Elk” and had been a “pillar in our Community,” Mr. Whitman said.
Gabon, one of the world’s most densely forested countries, is a stronghold for the African forest elephant, which is critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.
Up to 50,000 forest elephants live in the country, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Mr. McCarty said Mr. Dosio, whose home was filled with stuffed exotic animals, had been well aware of the dangers of big-game hunting and “knew the risks,” though he couldn’t recall any close encounters that Mr. Dosio had experienced in the past.
Mr. Dosio had been to Africa many times, Mr. McCarty said, and had hunted in South Africa and all over the United States.
“He went out doing something that he loved to do,” Mr. McCarty said.
