Tibetan pilgrims walk outside the Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, 11 September 2016. Sera Monastery is known as one of the “great three” Gelug university monasteries of Tibet founded in 1419. (Photo by How Hwee Young/EPA)

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)

17-year-old dance student Amelia Hubbard of Halesowen, West Midlands, takes to the park in south Birmingham, United Kingdom on April 14, 2022 to do some spring moves, as temperatures soar in the UK on Good Friday.(Photo by Peter Lopeman/Alamy Live News)

A severe thunderstorm hits Omaha, Neb., on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (Photo by Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP Photo)

A view shows a Lun-class Soviet-made ekranoplan, which is a naval craft and a ground-effect vehicle, on the Caspian Sea coastline in Derbent in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia on November 3, 2020. (Photo by Kazbek Basayev/Reuters)

A dog wearing a mask is seen on a street following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China on March 22, 2020. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Squirrels are seen on a tree branch at a park as temperatures rise with the arrival of spring season in Ankara, Turkiye on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Evrim Aydin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A sledding dog is covered in ice after spending the night in the open air with his musher at the polar base of Val-Cenis, as they ready for the next stage of the 12th edition of “La Grande Odyssee” sledding race across the Alps on January 17, 2016 in Val Cenis Lanslevillard. (Photo by Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP Photo)