A worker inspects unfinished firecrackers as they make pyrotechnics at a makeshift factory in Bocaue town, Bulacan province, north of Manila December 27, 2014. Firecracker makers in Bulacan province, the pyrotechnic capital of the Philippines, are in haste to meet the demands for the coming New Year revelry. (Photo by Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

Firework display from the top of the Sky Tower to welcome the New Year on January 1, 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)

A view of a stampede is seen during a New Year's celebration on the Bund, a waterfront area in central Shanghai, December 31, 2014. The stampede killed at least 35 people and injured 43 during New Year's Eve celebrations in Shanghai, on the city's famed waterfront tourist strip known as the Bund, authorities said. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Local priests celebrate the “Aimara New Year”, an Andean Bolivian traditional festival that marks the winter solstice in El Alto, Bolivia, 21 June 2016. Aimara or Aymara means the Return of the Sun. (Photo by Martin Alipaz/EPA)

New Year's Eve fireworks display illuminates the sky over the Dom Tower on January 01, 2012 in Utrecht, Netherlands. The Dom tower is with 112.5 metres high the tallest church tower of the Netherlands. Built in Gothic-style, the tower, part of the Cathedral of Saint Martin, is the symbol of the city of Utrecht. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Fireworks light up the skyline over Sydney Harbour during the midnight fireworks session as Sydney Celebrates New Year's Eve with the theme of “Time To Dream” on on January 1, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

A participant runs towards the waters of the North Sea during the annual New Year's plunge event in Ostend, Belgium, January 2, 2016. (Photo by Francois Lenoir/Reuters)