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)

Yakutsk, with a population of around 270,000, holds its own title: that of the coldest city on Earth. Here: Frost-encrusted house in the city centre. (Photo by Amos Chapple/Courtesy Images/RFE/RL)

In this Friday, January 6, 2017, photo, a North Korean woman working at the Kim Jong Suk Silk Mill looks up from her workstation in Pyongyang, North Korea. The silk mill, named after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's grandmother, is where 1,600 workers – mostly women – sort and process silkworms to produce silk thread that officials at the Pyongyang factory say is made into roughly 200 tons of silk a year. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel competes in the Masters Agility Championship Finals competition during the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City, U.S. February 11, 2017. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

(L-R) Playmates Monica Sims, Heather Rae Young and Hiromi Oshima attend the Playboy party with TAO at Spire Nightclub on February 4, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Playboy)

Farmers clash with riot policemen during a protest outside the Greek Agriculture Ministry on March 8, 2017 in Athens, Greece. Two people were detained after the windows of two police vans were smashed as approximately 1,000 farmers, mainly from the island of Crete, took part in the protest. (Photo by Nikolas Georgiou/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A B-52 bomber is watched by a group of curious onlookers as it lands at RAF Fairford, February 21, 1999. The B52s arrived from the U.S.A. as part of NATO's preparations for air attacks on Yugoslavia as tensions in the Kosovo crisis increased. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

Gray whale feeding at the surface and showing it's baleen. (Photo by Christopher Swann/Biosphoto)