Big Cats, Himalayas & Conservation With Johnny Hanson

Start Here: http://adventurediaries.com/go

In this highlights episode of the Adventure Diaries Podcast, we revisit the most powerful moments from our conversation with wildlife conservationist and author Jonny Hanson.

Full Episode Here

From terrifying encounters with snow leopards and working with dangerous animals in "Tiger King-style" facilities to climbing 20,000-foot peaks in the Himalayas without a guide, Jonny shares incredible stories of survival and exploration. But the true heart of this episode lies in his philosophy of coexistence—bridging the gap between wild carnivores and livestock farming—and his profound "Call to Adventure" that looks inward rather than outward.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Big Cat Encounters: The chilling story of a snow leopard attack that killed 100 livestock in one night.
• A Life of Adventure: How Jonny’s path led him from smuggling Bibles through the Iron Curtain to working with jaguars, tigers, and rhinos.
• Himalayan Expeditions: The humbling experience of researching in Nepal and a near-death experience on a 20,000-foot peak.
• Conflict & Coexistence: The tension between loving wildlife and protecting livelihood, illustrated by "The Fox and the Gander."
• Mental Wellbeing: Why the "mountains of the mind" are the hardest peaks to conquer.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Intro: Season 4 Highlights
• 00:26 - The Snow Leopard Attack
• 00:54 - Growing Up Between Worlds & Building Bridges
• 01:45 - Working with Dangerous Animals (Tigers, Jaguars, Snakes)
• 02:18 - Discovering the Himalayas
• 03:08 - The Fox and the Gander: A Story of Predation
• 03:41 - Survival on a 20,000ft Peak
• 04:09 - Jonny’s Call to Adventure: The Adventure Within
• 05:14 - Podcast Updates: Season 5 & New Patreon

Transcript

 



Snow Leopard Attack

As we prepare for the launch of the Adventure Diaries Podcast, season five at the end of February, 2026, we are revisiting the highlights and Call To Adventures from each episode in Season four to keep you entertained and inspired to get you outdoors. Now, here are some of those short highlights from my episode with Johnny Hanson, where we discuss the topics of large carnival reintroductions and what it's like living with big cats, bears and wolves enjoy.

  



 An adult female snow leopard, and there's three adult CDs got into a corral, so like a fenced in pen with a a wire mesh. They got in somehow into this corral, and they killed a hundred sheep and goats in one knife. They symbolized to me, like I talk about in the Biff. They symbolized the wild, they symbolized the wildest idea.

  

Growing Up Between Worlds

 I reckon as the Viking genes running through the Hanson lineage, going back to. This, you know, the Scandinavian Times a thousand years ago or whatever, but in his twenties, he, he did in development work in Lebanon during the Civil War, he smuggled Bibles through the Iron Curtain and some very narrow escapes, and he cycled around the world in the early eighties.

 Two very different things, which have carried through into what I do now and actually have come together in what I do now, including the book. One was that I had this love of nature and of wildlife and particularly of big cats. I just loved big cats, small cats, medium sized cats, which is what links are technically.

 at the same time I had this other love off the domestic and I loved farming and I loved cattle and and sheep.

 I got to the point where I, I said, I don't want to choose between these, I choose them both and I want to try and build bridges between them. And that's what I do now, specializing in this coexistence between large carnivores

 wolves, blank bears and livestock farming, livestock farmers, livestock farming communities, to understand how they can share landscapes together.

 



Working with Dangerous Animals

 I ended up working in, if you've seen Tiger King, places like that, with people like that from really dodgy places with no health and safety.

 And the animals were the least dangerous of the inhabitants in these places. But I didn't care. I was 1920, virtually fearless. Having the time of my life working with Jaguars, tigers, rhinos, monkeys, Amus, you name it, I worked with it. Snakes, crocodiles, uh, ULAs. Wolf dogs. I got to have animal encounters and experiences, some of which were quite terrifying, many of which were not.

 



Discovering the Himalayas

 the last summer I went to Nepal and I just felt in though we're the Himalaya Chris.

 They are the greatest mountain range on earth. And something just, it just lit a fire within me and I thought, I wanna come back here someday and and do research. And that was the, the next Lincoln gin?

 So a lot of adventurous ideas, but the actual act of doing field work and talking to people and working with my team of Nepal, research assistants, there was some, um, those are big mountains, Chris, and there was, there was a lot of carrying a lot of stuff and heavy weights and had high altitude and yeah, mountains are just, and those mountains, they just humbled the human spirit and they humbled the human,

 



The Fox and the Gander

 I myself have not, the only livestock I've ever lost to a predator was a goose to fox. And I talk about that in, and I did feel really torn in that moment because I was so angry at that bloody red fox for killing my gander and economic effects of what it was gonna mean for Christmas.

 And not having goslings to fatten then raise and sell at the same time. I just knew that, you know, the fox was just doing what the fox has been doing for millions of years and the gander was just lunch at a rough time of year. It probably had cubs of itself. It, that helps me to, to weigh up the scales, but there absolutely is a tension.

 



20,000 Feet Peak Adventure

 I stood on top a 20,000 foot peak in Indian Himalaya call stock Angry as the weather closed in. Our guide was blind drunk, so we ended up climbing with no guide, and my friend was really struggling with the altitude. Our other friend had turned back. It was just me and him, and I was, I was getting scared.

 I, I was starting to look back over my life and give thanks for the, the moments I had and wonder would we ever get down. So we did, but it was sobering and humbling. And yet in that moment, I rarely felt so alive.

 



Call to Adventure

 What would you recommend as an adventure activity, place, location, whatever it may be. Something to spark, uh, inspiration for the listeners and viewers to do something adventurous. So what would your call to adventure be?

 So my call to adventure initially when, when you said that in advance, I thought the mountains of Malawi, which I grew up in, which are off the beaten track, some of the most amazing places.

 But for me there's an even more incredible place that I just wanted to highlight. I'm not saying this to be clever, but people will read the book and understand much of my life is quite ally. There must have been some significant challenges and, and I think I've been honest about those because when you read about people who go and do extraordinary things, they become almost semi mythological beings.

 And you think, I could never be like that because I have X and y and this challenge. So my point is that the greatest adventure in life is not the adventure without, but it's the adventure within are not the greatest mutton range we face. Need to conquer is not the mountains of Nepal, but it's the mountains of the mind.

 And so my call to adventure is to look after your member wellbeing and go into our inner landscapes and look after yourself. 'cause life is hard and it's worth taking care of yourself.



  



  So I hope you enjoyed these short highlights from my episode, Johnny Hanson, and if you haven't listened to the full conversation with Johnny yet, then I recommend you go back and do that in a link to the full interview. In the show notes below.

And if you're enjoying the Adventure Diaries Podcast, could I ask that you take the time to leave a quick rating or review after listening to this episode? 'cause it really helps to show more than you think, and it's the simplest way to support the show for free.

Now one important update, uh, you may have heard already is that season five launches at the end of February, 2026. And along with that comes a new Patreon as well.

And it comes with one simple single tier, which is $5 or three pounds, 70 as at exchanges. And if you join the Patreon, you'll get the quickfire after shows for all the guests in season five. The fun q and a. Sections plus a new monthly extended newsroom episode where we deep dive into. Stories of adventure exploration and the natural world and the occasional, uh, short audio stories will be dropped in there as well,

and alongside that two supporting meetups as well. And to do that or to get on board with Patreon, just simply go to adventure diaries.com/go and click the Patreon button.

Alright, so that's it for this highlights episode. There are more highlights coming up from my episode with Chris McCaffery, about his cycle around the world. A fantastic episode. So look out for that and yeah, peace. Okay.