A California donkey, missing for five years, has been found residing among a roaming group of wild elk.
"She admitted Diesel ain't a brute, but a romantic, telling CNN affiliate KOVR in 2019 after his unexpected escape. Yet, he's got some fear in him now.
Time went by with no confirmation of Diesel's existence until a hunter spotted and recorded a herd of at least a dozen elks in California's wilderness earlier this year. Among them strangely stood a wild donkey.
Terrie Drewry is confident that the donkey in the hunter's footage is her Diesel.
"At last, we caught a glimpse of him," Drewry told KOVR after the video started making waves on social media this month. "Now we've got peace of mind knowing he's alive, living his best life, happy and healthy. It feels good, relief indeed," she added.
The Drewry family reared Diesel from the Bureau of Land Management and he resided on their farm cozying up with chickens, a llama, and a miniature donkey for the initial years of his life.
On a disastrous hike in April 2019, Diesel spooked and took off, dragging Drewry's husband along, as per Terrie's statement to KOVR back then. They searched for Diesel in the Cache Creek Wilderness, a vast area northwest of Sacramento, for weeks but couldn't locate him.
Max Fennell, a pro triathlete who occasionally hunts in California's wilderness, stumbled upon the elk herd during a hunt in March. What stunned him was the presence of a donkey among them.
A video shot by Fennell, which Drewry claimed was filmed only miles from where Diesel fled in 2019, shows the herd moving synchronously. When Fennell approached them, they stopped, scrutinizing him.
The animals remained unmoved until the donkey gave the nod: After evaluating Fennell with a skeptical eye, the donkey turned and trotted off. The elks followed suite.
Fennell opined in the video's caption on Instagram that the experience ranked amongst his wildest hunting trips. He was taken aback by the sight and impressed that the donkey seemed content and healthy!
Donkeys, apart from tilling land, pulling carts, and making people smile, are known to safeguard livestock on farms. These pack animals fiercely fend off predators with loud braying, violent kicking and reckless charging.
Drewry speculates that if the donkey Fennell found is indeed Diesel, he's just doing his donkey duty and protecting his deer friends.
"They've become each other's family," she told KOVR.
A clip shared in September last year also claimed to show Diesel with his elk companions. The donkey in that clip looked quite content, sauntering through tall golden grass under the sun's mighty beams.
Although she yearns to see him, Drewry states she won't bother catching Diesel and returning him. Donkeys in the wild usually can find plenty of food. And the donkey in Fennell's video seems to be flourishing in the wilderness, surrounded by friends."
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The Drewry family, who raised Diesel on their farm, expresses relief after seeing him living happily among his elk friends in the wilderness.Reuniting with Diesel would not be beneficial for him as wild donkeys often thrive and find food on their own in the wilderness.
