A 29-year-old man died early Wednesday morning after he hit a wild donkey with a motorcycle in North Kona.

The crash happened just before 8 p.m. Tuesday on Kaahumanu Highway near the Hualalai Resort.

Michael Carta was riding his motorcycle when he hit the donkey in an area marked by signs designating it as a donkey crossing, police said.

Paramedics treated Carta and took him to Kona Community Hospital, where he died just before 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Witnesses told police that the motorcyclist was traveling at a high rate of speed and overtaking other southbound vehicles before the crash.

Authorities ordered an autopsy for a cause of death.