A California man was killed by a herd of elephants during a hunting trip in Africa, his family confirmed. Ernie Dosio, 75, was the owner of a Central Valley farm management company. 

Dosio, who was a well-known big game hunter affiliated with the Sacramento Safari Club, was on a trip with Collect Africa, the New York Times reported. The travel company bills itself on its site as an “African Species Collecting Concierge.” According to family friends, Dosio was hoping to kill a yellow-backed duiker, an antelope known for its timid personality, in the Lope-Okanda rainforest area of Gabon. 

While hunting on April 17, Dosio and two other hunters unexpectedly came upon a small herd of female elephants and their calves. The adult elephants charged repeatedly, and Dosio was killed when he was gored by one of the elephant’s tusks, the Times reported. His remains are awaiting repatriation to California; he lived in Lodi at the time of his death. 

The news came as a shock to loved ones in the Central Valley, where Dosio was the millionaire owner of Pacific AgriLands, a farm management company that works with wineries. The Central District Elks posted on Facebook that he was a “pillar of our Community,” and Dosio’s son told the Daily Mail that the family was thrown into chaos by the news. 

“The day it happened we heard it was buffalos — and different crazy things,” Jeff Dosio told the outlet. “The lawyers got called before the family. There’s just some things that just don’t make sense.”

A close family friend who spoke with the Times said Dosio had been on many hunts in Africa and “knew the risks.” Photos of Dosio’s home attest to his controversial hobby: trophies of a rhino, lion and numerous deer and antelope species can be seen.