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)

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)

Dilwyn Green, from North Wales, holds his 7 month old Gold Silkie Bantam which won a 1st prize in its breed at the Poultry Club's 2011 National Show on November 19, 2011 in Stoneleigh, England. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Horses compete during the 21st Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship with the participation of 205 horses from many countries in Dubai, UAE on March 24, 2024. (Photo by Waleed Zein/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Pedestrians wear masks as smoke and haze from bushfires in New South Wales blankets the CBD in Sydney, Australia, 10 December 2019. The New South Wales environment department says visibility across east and southwest Sydney was at a “hazardous” level on Tuesday morning, while air quality was poor in southwest Sydney and hazardous in northwest Sydney. (Photo by Steven Saphore/EPA/EFE)

A man sits on the window of a burning building before falling from it, in central Lahore May 9, 2013. Fire erupted on the seventh floor of the LDA plaza in Lahore and quickly spread to higher floors leaving many people trapped inside the building. At least three people fell from the high floors trying to avoid fire that engulfed the building, local media reports. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

The tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation Carina. (Photo by Reuters/NASA)

A Puffing Billy steam train hauled by locomotive 14A crosses the Monbulk Creek trestle after leaving Belgrave station near Melbourne, October 20, 2014. While the discovery of steam power 200 years ago powered the Industrial Revolution, the world long ago shunted most steam trains onto the sidings of history. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)