North America's Rockies, a world class mountain chain with the greatest and fastest contrast both within and between seasons, are very demanding for wildlife. Prey species must chose between the safer heights or grazing near predators, like mountain goats facing cougar, wolves or bears. Mating and raising offspring must usually be timed in sync with the snow-free season and the abundant summer, when some migratory species pass bye like humming birds. The wolverine's scavenging however is most abundant is winter, when many carcasses are well-preserved. Even the sparse human population and tourists still needs some pioneering/competitive survival spirit and precise timing but is rewarded with invigorating vital adventure. Written by KGF Vissers

The unequaled height of the Himalaya, stretching from Pakistan to China's Yunnan province, the coldest home for monkeys, requiring thick fur and cuddling together in a tight social structure, implies great isolation and unique adaption for wildlife and cultures. Although snow leopards ravage the precious herds locked up in homes in India's dry Ladakh, the Buddhist people's respect for life extends to welcoming a natural reserve being set aside so they can feed again on their natural wild prey. The altitude causes problematic oxygen scarcity, the highest resident being a jumping spider feeding on insects blown up by icy winds. Only modern equipment allows humans to go up even onto the Mount Everest, yet horribly health-strained. Written by KGF Vissers

The Andes is our longest mountain range, made up of hundreds of astonishing worlds. Pumas hunt in Patagonia, spectacled bears seek out water in a high-altitude desert and the bizarre shape-shifting rainfrog hides in equatorial cloud forest.