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)

Belgian-British teenager Zara Rutherford closes the canopy of her Shark Ultralight airplane as she prepares to take off at the Kortrijk-Wevelgem airfield in Wevelgem, Belgium, Wednesday, August 18, 2021. A Belgian-British teenager took to the skies Wednesday in her quest to become the youngest woman to fly around the world solo. Nineteen-year-old Zara Rutherford took off from an airstrip in Wevelgem, Belgium, in an ultralight plane looking to break the record set by American aviator Shaesta Waiz, who set the world benchmark at age 30 in 2017. (Photo by Virginia Mayo/AP Photo)

Wolfgang (L), member of World War One historical association “Darstellungsgruppe Suddeutsches Militar 1870-1918” (DSM 18), from Munich, Germany, and Florent, member of French association “Le Poilu de la Marne”, dressed in vintage army uniforms, visit the Bezonvaux bunker in the national forest of Verdun, eastern France, March 29, 2014. Members of French and German historical associations, who gather annually, together visited the battlefield of Verdun in France, the site of a bloody World War One battle that dragged on for around 10 months in 1916, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and destroying many villages. (Photo by Charles Platiau/Reuters)

The British Breitling Wingwalkers, Danielle Hughes and Emily Guilding, soar above the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai at 1,500 feet (460 meters) in excess of 100mp/h, ahead of their Dubai debut performance at the 2014 UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Powerboating Series, on Saturday, 13th December 2014. The British team is the only aerobatic formation display team who employ full time wingwalkers and fly their two Breitling-liveried 1930's Boeing Stearman bi-planes at Air Shows and major sporting events around the world. (Photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga/Breitling via AP Images)

This is the remarkable moment a group of skydivers performed a world record breaking feat in honour of their friend who died while skydiving. Known as a “Bigway”, the daring jump involves 57 people holding hands in a predetermined design as they hurtle towards the ground, head first. After making the first shape, the group then break away before coming back together to form a second shape all in a single skydive. Captured using a GoPro camera by Alaskan skydiver, Ben Nelson, 36, the topsy-turvy footage shows the adrenalin junkies soaring through the air at around 160mph before banding together twice in mid-air, making the stunt a world first. (Photo by Ben Nelson/Caters News)

Online hostess Xianggong (L) and other hostesses check their pictures as they gather around the photographer while taking part in a football-themed photoshoot at a photography studio in Beijing March 4, 2015. In China's online hostessing world, men find virtual company and the women can find riches. Xianggong is one of more than 10,000 hostesses on the internet site bobo.com, a live broadcasting web platform where anyone can record themselves singing, playing piano, dancing or just chatting. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

“By 1969, the fashion choices of tens of millions of young American men and women were as variegated and ever-evolving as the world around them. Cultural transformation was an irresistible force during the Sixties, and across America and around the globe civil rights, women’s and gay liberation, the sexual revolution and, of course, the explosive soundtrack of R&B, soul and rock and roll informed everything from politics to fashion”. – LIFE. Photo: Corona del Mar High School students Kim Robertson, Pat Auvenshine and Pam Pepin wear “hippie” fashions, 1969. (Photo by Arthur Schatz/Time & Life Pictures)

Female metro passengers hold flowers presented to them by metro workers, prior to International Women's Day in Kiev, Ukraine, 02 March 2016. The hustle and bustle of the morning commute is broken up by an unexpected surprise. The first passengers to step on the train receive – a warm welcome and a pot of flowers. One woman says, “It's very nice. All the running around and then you're given a flower, it's not often. It's very nice. I'm going to take care of this flower”. International Women's Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century, in North America and across Europe, it is celebrated on March 08 in many countries around the world. (Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA)