Hindu devotees laugh as they watch the religious festival of Lathmar Holi, where women beat the men with sticks, in the town of Barsana in the Uttar Pradesh region of India, March 17, 2016. During Lathmar Holi the women of Barsana beat the men from Nandgaon, the hometown of Krishna, with wooden sticks in response to their teasing. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

An alligator is pictured stuck in the mud of the dry Pilcomayo river, which is facing its worst drought in almost two decades, on the border between Paraguay and Argentina, in Boqueron, July 3, 2016. (Photo by Jorge Adorno/Reuters)

A man stands on a mountain summit as he looks over the Inntal valley in the western Austrian village of Gnadenwald, Austria on July 18, 2017. (Photo by Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters)

Women dressed in traditional folk costumes participate at the Epiphany day celebration in Bitushe, Macedonia January 19, 2017. (Photo by Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters)

Drivers push cars to gas station during “oil crisis”, Roslindale, Boston, Massachusetts, 1973. (Photo by Spencer Grant/Getty Images)

Naked activists take part in a protest against fur trade, called by international non profit animal rights organisation AnimaNaturalis, in Barcelona, on December 1, 2019, on the eve of the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference COP25. (Photo by Pau Barrena/AFP Photo)

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)

Ellesse Janda welcomes a spring rainbow at Cresswell in Northumberland, United Kingdom on March 17, 2023. (Photo by Ian Sproat/Picture Exclusive)