Hotel staff practice self-defence skills after a training session given by team member of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April 7, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Two brown bear cubs born at Whipsnade Zoo. (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images). 1970

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)

Revellers take part in the annual block party known as “Casa Comigo” (Marry Me), during carnival festivities in Sao Paulo, Brazil on February 15, 2020. (Photo by Rahel Patrasso/Reuters)

An Afghan vendor selling birds to be kept as pets wait for customers in his shop in Kabul on December 11, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP Photo)

Trevor Olson, from Minnesota, dressed as the character “Joker”, poses for a photograph at New York's Comic Con convention, October 9, 2014, in New York City. The event draws thousands of costumed fans, panels of pop culture luminaries and features a sprawling floor of vendors in a space equivalent to more than three football fields in Javits Center. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Anna Nicole Smith at boyfriend Christian Audigier's Hollywood apartment in Hollywood, CA, 1998. (Photo by Paul Harris/Hulton Archive)

Laborers work on scaffolding near a full-scale replica of the Sphinx at an unfinished movie and animation tourism theme park, in Chuzhou, Anhui province, March 27, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)