Not exactly part of the Himalayan "Terrain" but a standard question in any Q&A session is "How do you manage wildlife?". So let's share a few words on the same in this chapter. "Wild"life as we call it is a misnomer. People living in concrete cities in the plains have become disconnected from nature and mountains and anything in there is now considered as "Wild".

I would rather term people as "Wild" having destroyed most of the bio-diversity on this planet. I have spent decades in South Indian jungles full of wildlife and thousands of kilometres in the remotest corners of the Himalayas having "encountered" many animals but never once been harassed or attacked by any. I generally believe that animals have live in their own ecosystem and do not approach humans unless they feel threatened.

Rule #1 here is "make your presence felt". Avoid a surprise encounter which might scare the animal to defend itself. Above the tree line animals generally see us coming from far away. Below the tree line whenever you sense any presence you can make some noise to give a heads up to any animals about your whereabouts. Animals usually avoid confrontation and will move away.

Based on encounters, I always assumed there is much more wildlife in the lower-altitude jungles of South than in the barren / more extreme climate of high Himalayas. Still seeing the number of foot imprints in snow during my winter explorations I can assure you the Himalayas have abundant wildlife.