A millionaire US big game hunter was ambushed and killed by five elephants whilst hunting a small forest antelope in Central Africa armed with a shotgun.

Californian vineyard owner Ernie Dosio, 75, - who owns a vast collection of exotic animal heads in trophy rooms at home - was horrifically trampled to death.

He was being guided by a professional hunter in thick forest in the Lope area of Gabon on a £30,000 stalk for a shot at the secretive and elusive yellow backed duiker.

Over the decades he has hunted elephants, leopard, rhino, buffalo and lion across Africa and back home in the US he has hunted almost every species of wild deer.

But the highly respected hunter's luck ran out last Friday while in dense rainforest in Gabon when his hunt stumbled into a herd of five big female elephants with a calf.

African elephants are the world's largest living land animal and the females can stand 12 feet tall at the shoulder and weigh nearly four tons and run at speeds up to 25mph

The startled elephant herd immediately charged Dosio and his professional hunter.

The elephants were so well hidden in the dense undergrowth they appeared 'as if from nowhere' and the professional with the high-powered rifle was just flung aside.

He was seriously injured and lost his gun in the thick bush as the elephants attacked the terrified hunter with just a shotgun who was then brutally trampled underfoot.

A retired game hunter in Cape Town who knows the victim said: '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.

'Ernie had booked a hunt for dwarf forest buffalo and duikers, in particular the yellow backed duiker, and under strict licensing laws he could not take along his own guns.

'The hunting company would supply a shotgun and cartridges for the duiker hunt.

'Whilst in the forest Ernie and his PH (professional hunter) surprised five forest elephant cows with a calf and feeling under threat the elephants immediately attacked them.'

The professional hunter was attacked first and seriously injured, losing his rifle, leaving Dosio with his shotgun.

'I would rather not go into detail but it is safe to assume it would have been quick,' the hunter said.

'Ernie was a very well-known and popular hunter in the US and in Africa and 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.'

Dosio's body is being repatriated by the US Embassy in Gabon to Lodi in California.

Gabon is known as Africa's last Eden with 88% of its 100,000 square mile territory covered by forest and it is home to 60% of the world's remaining forest elephants.

There are some 50,000 of them hidden deep in the dense forests of the country once famed for its pygmies which is now one of the richest in Africa per capita income.

Dosio was hunting for the rare yellow backed duiker which is a shy forest dwelling antelope first discovered by an English botanist in 1815 with short 8' horns.

He also had a licence allowing him to hunt dwarf forest buffalo in Gabon.

The safari company Collect Africa confirmed a client had been killed on April 17 in a brief statement saying he and and his PH had encountered the elephants during a hunt in Central Gabon.

It said the professional hunter was injured after the pair encountered five female elephants while hunting for yellow backed duiker and that unfortunately their client had been killed.

It said the matter was being handled by the US Embassy and his family in California.

The US Embassy in Gabon said that a media reply could take 'several days' to process through state apartments.

Dosio lived with long term partner Betty in a detached 4-bed home on the outskirts of Lodi 30 miles south of Sacramento in the heart of the California wine growing region.

The father-of-two was the owner of Pacific AgriLands Inc which has its own 12,000 acre vineyard in Modesto but specialises in providing management for local wine farms.

Son Jeff is President of the highly successful company which also supplies custom vine harvesting equipment throughout the region which produces 40% of Californian wines.

His other son Blake is also a farmer and believed to work in the thriving family business which supports most of the local vineyards including world famous E & J Gallo wines.

Dosio was a mainstay in the Sacramento Safari Club and a life member of hunting group California Wildfowl and on the board of the local Lodi Winegrape Commission.

He also held the post of Great Elk in the Californian Central District Elks which is a charitable group made up of 1900 lodges with 750,000 members throughout the US.

The Elks are made up of patriotic American citizens known for its many philanthropic programs which support military veterans, youth scholarships and disaster relief.

Lodi Lodge secretary Tommy Whitman said in a Facebook statement yesterday: 'It is with a most heavy heart and sadness that I am reporting the passing of Ernio Dosio.

'May all of our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones. Ernie was Great Elk for 30 years and a pillar in our community who will be sorely missed'.

He added afterwards: '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.

'He would never want recognition but he was always there with a loving heart.

'Ernie's passion was hunting and he spent much of his time either hunting here in the USA or in Africa and most of his trophies are on display at his own trophy rooms.

'He will be really missed around here and was one of the real good guys' he said.

A representative of Pacific AgriLand inc said: 'Nobody here at present is available to speak. That has to be down to his son Jeff when he is ready to say something to you.

'Ernie was very popular and Jeff is taking many calls as you can well imagine. It is a huge tragdy' she said.

The big game hunter had his own private function rooms filled with hundreds of his trophies including elephant, rhino, bear, buffalo, lion, crocodile, zebra and leopard.

Dosio also shot and had almost every species of buck in the USA including elk, moose and reindeer mounted on the walls along with wildfowl including turkeys and geese.

A family friend said: 'Ernie would hold a charity function there every month where food was served to members of the Elk lodges and upstanding citizens of the community.

'There would be judges, advocates and the heads of the local vineyards and big noises from industry and commerce and it was where all the local networking was done.

'It was always a huge fundraiser with money raised going to help those who needed it.

'Ernie with his big moustache was larger than life but did not show it off although he had money he was not one for the big house or fancy cars or the jet-set lifestyle.

'He was a just a farmer and good old country boy who loved to hunt and fish. There are not many in the US today who would have a trophy collection to match Ernie's.

'The news of his death in Africa was like a bomb going off here. It has been said the elephants came out of nowehere. One thing is for sure he will get a huge send off.'

In August last year millionaire US 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.

The Cape Buffalo – known to hunters as Black Death - charged him from a blind spot at 55mph and impaled him on a horn during the £8,500 hunt before it was shot dead.

The professional hunter with him from Coenraad Vermaak Safaris fought desperately to save him but the area they were in was so remote he bled to death before help arrived.

Mr Watkins, from Texas, was also a conservationist who believed hunting was a vital part of preserving wildlife and also had many photos on his social media with trophies.

The divorcee who has a teenage daughter Savannah had his own successful company, Watkins Ranch Group, which sold exclusive ranched priced beween £1m and £30m.

In July last year there was worldwide anger when a much loved lion called Blondie was lured away from its game reserve and shot dead by a trophy hunter who paid £35,000.

Deer farmer Delvy Workman, 48, was named and shamed by both Africa Geographic and Lion Expose as the man who pulled the trigger killing the lion in Zimbabwe.

A photograph showed Blondie's assassin kneeling next to his carcass but Workman brazenly posted on social media: 'If I killed a lion it would be by cover photo'.

Workman also posted pictures of himself posing next to kills during a hunting trip to Zimbabwe, including a leopard, kudu and a zebra saying: 'Let's kill some lions'.

The lion had allegedly been lured from the safety of its reserve where it he was looking after his pride of 10 cubs and three lionesses by being fed rotting meat.

As it followed the bait over a period of days and crossed over the Hwange National Park boundary it was then deemed a legal shoot and the hunter shot him dead.

Blondie had been photographed by tourists from all over the world and had been fitted with a GPS collar by researchers from Oxford University as part of a study.

Blondie's death had chilling echoes of the slaying of Cecil the lion in July 2015 who was lured away from safety then shot with a bow and arrow by a US dentist.

American Walter Palmer, then 55, from Minnesota, USA, paid £50,000 to shoot and kill Cecil which was known worldwide after it was lured out of a Zimbabwe reserve.