A wolf looks into the camera at the 30 km (19 miles) exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the abandoned village of Orevichi, Belarus, March 2, 2016. What happens to the environment when humans disappear? Thirty years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, booming populations of wolf, elk and other wildlife in the vast contaminated zone in Belarus and Ukraine provide a clue. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

The legendary US photographer’s favourite shots of creatures and how they interact with humans feature in “Animals”, his latest book. Here: A boy rests against a cow, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2013. “Cows have been designated the national animal in Nepal. They roam freely, and are considered sacred by the 80% of Nepalis who are Hindu”. (Photo by Steve McCurry/The Guardian)

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)

Wildlife are hunted down for consumption or for sale in the India eastern state of Nagaland. Hunters can make a good living, with some bred for food or to be sold as pets. These baby parrots, photographed by Caisii Mao via Sipa USA, are seen after they were caught and preserved by a local hunter and for sale at a private residence in Dimapur, India north eastern state of Nagaland on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. (Photo by Caisii Mao/NurPhoto/Sipa USA)

Spectators in Moscow were treated to the site of humorously designed makeshift aircraft plunging into the Muskova River during the Red Bull Flugtag Moscow 2011 competition. 38 teams took part at the Flugtag – which means “flying day” – a competition in which teams in fancy dress attempt to pilot human-powered, home-made flying machines off a six-meter-high platform into water.

Photo: A makeshift aircraft plummets into the Moskva River during the Red Bull Flugtag Moscow 2011 competition. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

Scaffolding holding a remnant of the Soviet Union, the hammer and sickle, is seen on a rooftop of an abandoned building in the town of Pripyat on January 25, 2006 near Chernobyl, Ukraine. The town of Pripyat, deserted since the 1986 catastrophe, once housed 30,000 people, the majority of being workers from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Days after the catastrophe the inhabitants were relocated to other locations in the Soviet Union. The town of Pripyat has remained uninhabited since. Prypyat and the surrounding area will not be safe for human habitation for several centuries. Scientists estimate that the most dangerous radioactive elements will take up to 900 years to decay sufficiently to render the area safe.

Artist Victor Nunes combines every-day objects with simple illustrations to turn them into pictures of faces, animals and other playful scenes. His images invite us to look at the world differently and find creative images in our surroundings. Nunes’ art is a great example of pareidolia, which is our propensity to give meaning to random objects (like in this post about seeing faces in random objects). It’s the reason why we associate a smiley face with a human face and why some of Nunes’ pieces of popcorn or bread resemble faces to us.

They might look like something straight out of a horror film, but these extraordinary images have been created to show the special bond between cats and their owners. Photographer Sebastian Magnani, 28, from Brig, Switzerland, took pictures of dogs and their owners using the same position and camera settings before working his magic with editing software. The result is this startling set of images, which show the pooches with human clothes – one wearing a hoodie, another with a red coat, one with a shirt and cardigan, and another with a blue jacket. (Photos by Sebastian Magnani)