An American trophy hunter died in Gabon during a hunting expedition after he was trampled by multiple elephants, The Daily Mail reported on Friday.

Collect Africa, the company that organized the $40,000 trip, confirmed the death of 75-year-old Ernie Dosio, a vineyard owner from Northern California. Dosio owned Pacific AgriLands, which boasts a 12,000-acre vineyard in Modesto, California. He lived in Lodi.

The Daily Mail said Dosio had amassed quite a collection of animal heads and was looking to bag a yellow-backed duiker, which is a small and elusive antelope. Instead, he and his guide unwittingly stumbled upon five female African forest elephants and a calf:

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

The elephants were so well hidden in the dense undergrowth that 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.

“Ernie has been hunting since he could hold a rifle and has many trophies,” one big game hunter who knew Dosio told The Daily Mail. “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.”

Dosio had two adult sons.

In 2017, President Donald Trump created an advisory board meant to help rejigger federal rules regarding the importation of animal heads and hides of African elephants and other animals. The board, which included several big game hunters, was dissolved in 2020 amid lawsuits.

During his first term, Trump also rescinded an Obama-era policy that banned hunters from importing keepsakes from elephant hunts in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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