“It's a huge shock. He was a big-time hunter, and it shouldn't have happened," said the hunter's ex-wife
Credit: Wagonhound Outfitters/Facebook
NEED TO KNOW
- The family of millionaire big-game hunter Ernie Dosio spoke out for the first time following the news of his death
- Ernie died, and his professional guide was seriously injured, after an elephant herd charged the pair while they were on a hunting trip in the Lopé-Okanda rainforest in Gabon
- Ernie’s body is being sent back to California with assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Gabon
The family of the millionaire big-game hunter who died after being charged by an elephant herd in the central African country of Gabon is speaking out.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, the family of Ernie Dosio, 75, shared how they learned the news of his death and revealed that they didn’t receive the most accurate information at first.
“The day it happened, we heard it was buffalo — and different crazy things,” Rinda Butler Dosio, Ernie's ex-wife, told the outlet. “The lawyers got called before the family. There's just some things that just don't make sense.”
“It's a huge shock. He was a big-time hunter, and it shouldn't have happened. He and another man [were] killed,” she added.
Credit: Getty
Safari operator Collect Africa confirmed Ernie’s death and said that the professional guide, who accompanied the California vineyard owner on the $40,000 hunting trip in the Lopé-Okanda rainforest, had survived and sustained serious injuries in the encounter.
A former game hunter, who was friendly with Ernie, told the New York Post that Ernie and the guide had been tracking a rare yellow-backed duiker, which is a type of forest antelope, when they came upon a group of five female forest elephants with a calf.
The friend said the herd felt threatened and charged at the pair, striking the guide first before knocking Ernie to the ground and trampling him. He told the Post, “I would rather not go into detail, but it is safe to assume that it would have been quick.”
Following the news of Ernie’s death, a photo of the late millionaire’s hunting collection in his home was released. The picture, which the Post shared, showed a room with various elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, crocodile, zebra and leopard heads.
Several people online scrutinized Ernie’s hunting habits after the photos were released, but his son, Jeff Dosio, told the Daily Mail that the narrative regarding his father has been “twisted.”
“It hasn't been fun. It hasn't been fun at all. Whoever got all these pictures of our trophy room — I don't know how that came about at all,” Jeff told the outlet.
Credit: Getty
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A retired hunter and friend of Ernie’s also defended the millionaire, telling the Daily Mail that his “hunts were strictly licensed and above board and were registered as conservation in culling animal numbers.”
Ernie’s body is currently being sent back to California with assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Gabon.
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