AUBURN, California – The owner’s of Diesel the donkey spent five years wondering what happened to their animal after he went missing back in 2019. A video posted to social media by a hunter in the area just a few months ago gave them some answers.
According to CBS News Sacramento, Diesel went missing on a hiking trip along the Cache Creek wilderness with one of his owners, Dave Drewry. According to his wife Terrie, they believe that a mountain lion spooked him away.
Over the next many weeks, they searched by land, horseback, and by drone, but were unable to find the donkey. Around a month later, a trail camera in the area captured a glimpse of the animal at night, but they still couldn’t locate him and they began to fear the worse.
Five years later, a video posted by Max Fennell showed the bizarre sight of a donkey living alongside a herd of elk, and the Drewrys are certain it’s Diesel. The animal appears to be protecting the herd from predators, with him apparently having killed several coyotes and potentially a mountain lion.
The Drewrys have no intention of capturing Diesel and fully intend on letting him live out the rest of his life as a wild animal.
