Monday

Tippi Degre : Adorable french girl growing up in Africa

Tippi Benjamine Okanti Degre was born in Windhoek, Namibia in 1990. She was named after Tippi Hedren, the actress who starred in Hitchcock's 'The Birds'. Tippi's parents, Alain Degré and Sylvie Robert, worked as freelance wildlife photographers in Namibia. She was a little French girl who was labelled a 'real-life Mowgli' because she grew up and played with the wild animals in Africa during her stay there.

During that time, while living with her French parents, the three of them traveled extensively through Africa on a unique and incredible adventure. Her mother, Sylvie, explains; "It was magical to be able to be free in this nature with this child. She was a very lucky little girl - she was born and raised until the age of ten totally in the wild. It was just the three of us living in the wild with the animals and not too many humans." Tippi's "brother" was an elephant, her best friend a leopard and her playground the African bush.

Also during her stay in Namibia, Tippi befriended many other wild animals, including the 28-year old elephant Abu, the leopard nicknamed J&B, crocodiles, lion cubs, giraffes, giant bullfrogs and chameleons. She had an amazing and very special bond with the wild animals. She was also friends with the Bushmen and the Himba tribespeople of the Kalahari. They taught her how to survive on roots and berries and to speak their language.


After their stint in Namibia, Tippi later moved with her parents to Madagascar and then back to France. While back in Paris, Tippi attended a local state school for the first two years, but then became home-schooled because she found it difficult to relate to or have much in common with the other children in there. Tippi has written a book of her adventures, titled "Tippi of Africa" which was published and translated into several languages. She has also set up a website, and returned to Africa to make six nature documentaries for the Discovery Channel. She is an amazing young woman.





















VIDEO tippi and cheetah


Responses to "Tippi Degre - Young French girl who befriended the wild animals of Africa (Video)"

  1. Anonymous says:

    What an awesome life this young woman has had. I look forward to reading her book. Thumper <3

  2. Anonymous says:

    why do people make those choices for their kids...they grew up 'normal'...now because of their 'amazing' lifestyle choice, their kid can't relate to people...an outcast...grrr

  3. Sheila Schoening says:

    This child grew up loving and understanding nature and the mysteries of life. More education than a book can teach you. With help and time she can learn to communicate with humans as well, don't judge her parents harshly; they gave her a life long experience she will always treasure.

  4. Anonymous says:

    This is a leopard as the other poster noted. Leopards are very dangerous, even when they are raised by humans. Do you see where she is bitten on the shoulder, starts to cry, and the video cuts to a different place?
    The leopard is getting aggressive with her. Why would parents use a child as bait like that? I don't understand. How many other children did they have while they were living in the bush that didn't make it?

  5. Anonymous says:

    OMG people. Enjoy the beautiful pictures and story.

  6. Mick says:

    To the person that says Quote "why do people make those choices for their kids...they grew up 'normal'...now because of their 'amazing' lifestyle choice, their kid can't relate to people...an outcast...grrr". I would ask them if they think all of the African people that grow up in this way are to be considered as abnormal?

    I and many others would love for our children to grow up in this time free stress free environment, at one with nature, as intended from thousands of years ago whenwe first visited this planet.

  7. Anonymous says:

    i second that mick! you all DO understand that at one point in time, this WAS normal? and many today still find it to be NORMAL? to the guy saying she was bit and starting crying and blah blah blah...no. if that leopard was trying to hurt her...she'd be dead. it was a love bite, and not even a bite...my dog often WHILE PLAYING opens her mouth and puts her teeth on me, she never bites me. I feel so bad for the uneducated. This little girl had an awesome life, and to this day she misses her 'brothers and friends' in africa. She plans to move back and become ambassador. She was so privledged to have had such an amazing childhood.
    and to those of you knocking her parents...please do some research.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I wish I was her! how lucky she is ... I've always dreamed to live like her

  9. Anonymous says:

    Its a leopard!

  10. Anonymous says:

    amazing and so natural wow

  11. Unknown says:

    Animals kill for food. Humans kill for pleasure and money. Who is more dangerous?

  12. Anonymous says:

    Here's the full movie:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_GpEbpmPag

  13. Anonymous says:

    I'm all for being one with nature..I LOVE nature...but I also recognize that many animals are dangerous...they are wild....their instinct for preservation means they eat to survive. I'm a parent, but I could never expose my daughter to these dangers. This is one very lucky little girl; if her 'playmates' were truly hungry, she'd have been lunch.

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