A bull hits a reveller during the first running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain, July 7, 2018. Each day at 8am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking. (Photo by Vincent West/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)

Ucil, a trained monkey, takes part in a street performance on June 1, 2011 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The street performances usually involve the monkeys wearing masks, such as dolls' heads or attire to mimic humans, with the monkeys trained to act out human activities such as shopping, riding bicycles or other simulations of human behaviour. Poverty drives the handlers to exploit the monkeys in the hope of earning small change, but the effect and cruelty to the monkeys is a cause that charities such as the Jakarta Animal Aid Network are increasingly taking up. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

A humane society have drafted in Star Wars characters to help find adoptable animals new homes. The Ottawa Humane Society in Ontario, Canada, used the recognisable cosplay figures to adorably interact with the likes of dogs, cats and guinea pigs. Photographed by Rohit Saxena, the series featured a stormtrooper, a Tusken Raider and Garindan. Those photographed were members of the 501st Capital City Garrison, a Star Wars costuming group in Eastern Ontario. Here: a Tusken Raider with a cat. (Photo by Rohit Saxena/Caters News)

Yulin, a city in southern China, celebrates the summer solstice by throwing a festival that involves the slaughter and consumption of as many as 10,000 dogs. Not everyone in China supports such practices, however; 65-year-old Yang Xiaoyun, a retired teacher who runs an animal shelter in Tianjin, traveled more than 2,400 km (1,500 miles) and spent more than 7,000 yuan ($1,100 or €990) to save 100 dogs from certain death.

The great vector artist OG Abel was a diamond in the rough. Growing up in violent surroundings, OG Abel found shelter in art. With an unsupportive father who always told him artist die broke, his only creative activity was strongly connected to religion. Having a church-going mother, OG Abel says he would spend hour drawing images from the Bible, his favorite pictures being those of animals, especially lions. He would also study the elaborate paintings in churches, the architecture, and/or the sculptures.

Andreas Preis is a Berlin-based German artist who studied communications design in Nuremberg.
Following an advertising internship with Springer & Jacoby he turned his attention toward freelance design and illustration. Andreas’ style mixes digital and traditional art, combining hand-drawings, cross-hatching, and color with digital media. In his latest project entitled Grow, Andreas Preis creates an incredible series of animal crests using his unique style to create these wonderful works of art.

Glacier National Park is a national park located in the U.S. state of Montana, on the Canada–United States border with the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The park encompasses over 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2) and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants and hundreds of species of animals. This vast pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the "Crown of the Continent Ecosystem", a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 square miles (41,000 km2).