A pedestrian walks with an umbrella along a street during rainfall in Bengaluru on June 2, 2024. (Photo by Idrees Mohammed/AFP Photo)

MY Raven, a former steamer now converted to diesel, cruises across Ullswater from Glenridding to Pooley Bridge in Cumbria, UK on October 25, 2024. (Photo by Andrew McCaren/London News Pictures)

Fire ravages vegetation during the Cerro de los Pinos wildfire on August 04, 2025 in Cáceres, Spain. Firefighters from Cáceres and INFOEX forest firefighters are battling fires, as high temperatures continue to put the Extremadura region at extreme risk of further wildfires. (Photo by Carlos Gil Andreu/Getty Images)

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 worker holds the head of a fox while killing it with electricity for its fur at a fox farm in Nanzhuang village, Shandong province, China, December 11, 2015. There are over 60 households in the village still raising foxes, raccoon dogs and other animals for the fur trade. China is the world's largest fur producer and exporter, according to state media. (Photo by William Hong/Reuters)

Composite picture of lightning strikes over Colima, Mexico in just 5 minutes on July 14, 2020. These incredible photos show over 50 forks of lightning striking a city in just five minutes – in a storm being dubbed “The Night of a Thousand Forks”. The amazing, panoramic photos over the valley shows the whole sky light up as the forks of lightning strike at different points along the length of the city's 165 square miles. (Photo by South West News Service/Action Press)

A flock of Adjutants storks sit on a garbage dump at Borgaon in Guwahati, Assam, India, 17 October 2019. Wildlife activists and environmentalists have protested in the past for shifting the garbage dump to another site since it is situated near the Deepor Beel Bird Sanctuary. (Photo by EPA/EFE/Stringer)

A female Chinese People's Liberation Army soldier looks at members of an honor guard preparing for a welcome ceremony for visiting German President Joachim Gauck, outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, March 21, 2016. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)