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)

Chinese-American actress Bai Ling attends “The Key” screening at The Real Experimental Film Festival at Laemmle's Music Hall on November 21, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Barry King/WireImage)

English singer, songwriter and model Sophie Ellis-Bextor performs at G-A-Y at The Astoria on February 17, 2007 in London, England. (Photo by Jo Hale/Getty Images)

In this Friday, January 7, 2011 photo, people carry baskets of coal scavenged illegally at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live and work. The world's biggest coal users – China, the United States and India – have boosted coal mining in 2017, in an abrupt departure from last year's record global decline for the heavily polluting fuel and a setback to efforts to rein in climate change emissions. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/AP Photo)

People carry cutouts of coffins during a march to commemorate the more than 617 people they say have been killed by law enforcement in LA County since 2000, in Los Angeles, California April 7, 2015. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Lightning from a tornadic thunderstorm passing over Clearwater, Kansas strikes at an open field May 19, 2013. A massive storm front swept north through the central United States on Sunday, hammering the region with fist-sized hail, blinding rain and tornadoes, including a half-mile wide twister that struck near Oklahoma City. News reports said at least one person had died. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Reuters)

A biker passes by a pair of mailboxes in the Capitol Hill neighborhood November 6, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. Colorado is considered by most experts to be one of the key battleground state in this year's presidential election. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/AFP Photo)

A navy diver storms into the gallery during a military display at Singapore's 52nd National Day celebrations at Marina Bay in Singapore August 9, 2017. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)