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)

Photographer Han Youngsoo captured the ordinary people of Korea as the country emerged from war into an age of prosperity. Han Youngsoo: Photographs of Seoul 1956–63 is at the International Center of Photography (ICP), Jersey City, New Jersey, until June 9, 2017. Here: Seoul, Korea. (Photo by Han Youngsoo/The Guardian)

An abandoned protection masks in the deserted building near bypass channel for cooling at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Exclusion Zone, Ukraine, April 5, 20177. The Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred on 26 April 1986 in the No.4 light water graphite moderated reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat. An estimated 47,000 people of the city of Pripyat were evacuated after the explosion in 1986. (Photo by Vitaliy Holovin/Corbis via Getty images)

An aircraft passes the rising sun during take off at the international airport in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, September 2, 2019. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

The Lady Boys of Bangkok have fun at the Meadows August 1, 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Shoko Ota of Japan celebrates winning the Women's Standing 10km Individual Cross Country during day one of the Winter Games NZ at Snow Farm on August 13, 2011 in Wanaka, New Zealand. (Photo by Camilla Stoddart/Getty Images)

A visitors to the National Galleries of Scotland view the work “A girl” of sculptor Ron Mueck on August 4, 2006 Edinburgh in Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

On August 18, 2014 the burning wreckage of a US$248,000 Lamborghini Murcielago was spotted off the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo. There was no apparent damages to the body of the car, and the uploader theorised that the fire could have stemmed from the engine.