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 man carrying butchered dogs drives past a pet dog at a dog meat market in Yulin, Guangxi Autonomous Region, June 21, 2015. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Circus performer and trampolinist Max Calaf Seve performs at a preview for NoFit State Circus new summer show at the Eden Project on March 29, 2012 in St Austell, England. This will be the second time that the NoFit Circus has performed in the world famous biomes of the Eden Project. The production will start on July 28 and run until September 2 before leaving Cornwall for a global tour. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Chinese security stands near a Long March 2F rocket carrying Tiangong-1, China's first unmanned space module, stands at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 28, 2011 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province of China. Tiangong-1,a small unmanned space lab, will be launched at 21:19 (Beijing time) on September 29, 2011, and will attempt a docking procedure with a Shenzhou 8 spacecraft later in the mission. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

A woman looks towards part of an artwork called “Lichen! Libido! (London!) Chastity!” by Anthea Hamilton, one of the four artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2016, as it is displayed at the Tate Britain gallery in London, Monday, September 26, 2016. The Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)

Dog Xiaoniu dressed in clothes walks across a street with its owner (not pictured) in Shanghai, December 19, 2014. According to local media, Xiaoniu accompanies its owner to the food market everyday and is able to walk with its hind legs for up to about an hour. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A large balloon of a face of “ojisan”, a middle aged man, floats in the sky above the grounds of Nishiki elementary school in Utsunomiya in Tochigi prefecture, 100km north of Tokyo on December 21, 2014. Members of art group “Me”, meaning “eye” in Japanese and the Utsunomiya Museum of Art launched an art installation “The Day an Ojisan's Face Floated in the Sky”, a 15-meter by 10-meter face balloon of the depicted man, who was auditioned in the city, looking down on his home town from the sky. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

Belarusian Sergei Selekh plays with his 6-month-old tamed wolves on the outskirts of the village of Gaina, 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Belarus capital Minsk, Wednesday, December 31, 2014. Selekh owns a farmstead, where sheep, wolves and an ethnographic museum serve as entertainment for guests. (Photo by Sergei Grits/AP Photo)