I’ll admit, I fantasize a lot about what I would do if I were rich. The possibilities of life without the burden of financial worry seems so unbelievably freeing. Assuming I am multimillionaire-level rich, I know for sure everyone in my close circle would be taken care of. I’d pay off the mountains of student loan debt I’ve incurred, fix up the areas of my home that are in desperate need of TLC, and secure my child’s future. Once all of the necessities were handled, I’d invest a good chunk of it, give away what I could, then use whatever fun money was left for traveling the world.
I’d like to think I would be able to stay humble enough to resist allowing my money to change who I am as a person. It seems to be that there are a lot of folks who, just because they have the means to do something, feel entitled to do it. That rubs me the wrong way. One of those popular questionable “rich people activities” is big-game hunting. Recently an American millionaire paid the ultimate price for partaking in it on a trip that cost him $40,000.
Ernie Dosio, 75, recently died during an elephant encounter while on a big-game hunting trip in Gabon.
People reports that Dosio was a California vineyard owner who had an extensive hunting trophy collection. He was on a guided hunting trip in the Lope-Okanda rain forest when the fatal incident occurred, the Daily Mail reports. Dosio’s $40,000 trip was to hunt down a yellow-backed duiker, a small forest-dwelling antelope found in Central and West Africa, according to the outlet. While on the expedition, a group of five female elephants and a calf were hiding in a dense undergrowth. They emerged and charged Dosio and his guide.
Dosio had reportedly hunted elephants, lions, buffalos, and leopards, over the course of decades.
An anonymous retired game hunter in Cape Town, South Africa, who knows the victim, told the Daily Mail that Dosio was an “ethical” big-game hunter.
“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,” he told the outlet. “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 [professional hunter] surprised five forest elephant cows with a calf. Feeling under threat the elephants immediately attacked them.”
The source also noted the professional hunter had initially survived the trampling but later died from his injuries.
The US Embassy in Gabon is coordinating the return of Dosio’s remains to California.
Many describe Dosio as philanthropic with his hunting. He would hold charity functions and give donations to local Elks Lodges in California.
“Ernie would hold a charity function there every month where food was served to members of the Elks Lodges and upstanding citizens of the community,” a family friend told the Daily Mail. “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.”
Still, trophy hunting remains a controversial subject worldwide, and we totally understand why. Just because the law allows something doesn’t make it right.
