Alpine Skiing, FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup, Men's Parallel Giant Slalom, Alta Badia, Italy on December 19, 2016. Hostesses take a bath in a Jacuzzi pool during the race. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

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)

Technical staff take shelter as a helicopter takes off prior to the Nendaz Freeride skiing and snowboard competition, a Freeride World Tour Qualifier (FWQ) event, on the Mont Gond in Nendaz, Switzerland on March 21, 2018. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A protester wearing a bra and with a message written on her chest can be seen during the first of hundreds of womens' marches organized around the world in a show of disapproval of U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia, January 21, 2017. (Photo by Dan Himbrechts/Reuters/AAP)

A Filipino dancer performs with fire to mark the Chinese Lunar New Year in Manila's Chinatown, Philippines, 28 January 2017. Chinese around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year on 28 January 2017, the first day of the year of rooster. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA)

Two young women, having enjoyed a drink at a party, dance together in Tehran, Iran. Although unrelated men and women are forbidden to socialise together many people ignore these strictures in the privacy of their own homes. (Photo by Hossein Fatemi/Reuters/Panos Pictures/Courtesy of World Press Photo Foundation)

As the world marks International Women's Day on Wednesday, whose theme this year focuses on “women in the changing world of work”, the Israeli military says it is ahead of the curve in providing combat roles for female soldiers. Here: A female Israeli soldier from the Haraam artillery battalion fixes her hair in the women's living quarters at a military base in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights March 1, 2017. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)

Vietnam’s Son Doong cave, the largest in the world, could hold a 40-story skyscraper inside. The pristine ecosystem has its own river and jungle. Despite its size, Son Doong wasn’t discovered until 1991. It was lost again for nearly two decades and was fully explored for the first time in 2009. (Photo by Jason Speth/HuffPost)