Pet Donkey Missing for Five Years Ends Up With Wild Elk

In April 2019, a pet donkey named Diesel ran off during a hike in the Cache Creek Wilderness, a rugged area northwest of Sacramento. Diesel’s owners, Terrie and Dave Drewry, searched high and low for their pet, literally – on foot, on horseback, and via drone – but for naught.

Years passed until the wayward ass was seen again, when hunter Max Fennell spotted and filmed a herd of wild elk – along with a donkey, cheerfully cavorting among them. “Probably one of my wildest hunting trips to date,” Fennel wrote on Instagram. “I can’t get over seeing it and I’m amazed that the donkey looks happy and healthy!”

Among the hundreds of thousands of Instagrammers who saw Fennell’s post was Dave Drewry, who replied: “That is in fact Diesel. He got away from me while packing out there 5 years ago. It was heartbreaking at the time. Glad to see he is helping the heard [sic] grow.”

Diesel has since appeared in other video clips on Instagram, where he not only looks happy with the interspecies arrangement, he appears to be leading the elk, who take their cues from him. The Drewrys have no plans to take Diesel back. “Finally, we know he’s good,” Terrie tells CNN affiliate KOVR. “He’s living his best life. He’s happy. He’s healthy, and it was just a relief.”

By our crude estimation, donkeys and elk (Equus africanus asinus and Cervus canadensis, respectively) descended from a common ancestor some 50 million years ago. Glad to see them exploring their roots.

See Diesel and friends here and here.

Photo credit: Max Fennell via Instagram