A domestic donkey that escaped its owners’ supervision while hiking five years ago has been found living with a herd of wild moose in California.
Terrie and Dave Drewry thought their donkey, Diesel, was lost forever when he got lost near Sacramento in 2019… until they discovered a video shared on Instagram.
In this video, Max Fennell, a hunter and triathlon athlete who shares his adventures on social media, discovers an intruder among a herd of wild elk, in the same place where Diesel had disappeared five years earlier. A donkey stood among the moose, seeming to be an integral part of the group.
“Probably one of my most incredible hunting trips to date. I came across a herd of elk who adopted a donkey,” exclaimed the hunter, noting that the animal “looked happy and healthy!”
Mme Drewry is convinced that the donkey in the hunter’s video is their long-lost Diesel. “Finally, we know he’s okay,” she told KOVR.
Diesel has become something of a legendary creature in the region, according to several Internet users who recognized him in the video.
“This donkey is a true legend! He has lived with the elk for several years already,” said a local man in the comments of the video.
“I’m pretty sure there isn’t another donkey living its best life among a herd of elk,” exclaimed another.
Happy to know that Diesel is healthy and thriving, his former owners do not want him back, thinking that he is much happier leading a herd of deer in the wild than surrounded by chickens on their ranch.
