Tipi girl from Africa. Modern Mowgli
Tippi Benjamin Okanti Degre is a unique Frenchwoman. She was born in June 1990. Tippy's parents, Sylvia and Alan, are professional photographers who photograph wildlife for various publications.
Long before Tippy was born, her parents once came across an article in a book about the fauna of West Africa. And there was a photograph of two cute little animals - okanti mongooses. Sylvia and Alan decided to go on an excursion to Africa to see mongooses alive, and they ended up staying there.
In total, the Degre family lived in the Kalahari Desert for seven years, on the border between the states of Namibia, West Africa and Botswana. Sylvia and Alan Degre have made many documentaries about animals and released several photo albums about African fauna. When Tippy was born, the management of the West African National Park, for reasons of the girl's safety, demanded that the Degre family leave the reserve.
The Degre moved to a reserve in Botswana. There, too, they were not happy that the child would grow up among wild animals, and they allowed him to live in the park.
Tippy's parents spent whole days outdoors in search of new photographs and took their daughter with them everywhere. The girl studied the dangers that await humans in nature: snakes, scorpions, wild cats, which you need to look straight into the eyes, never turn your back to them and never run away from them. “It just sounds so difficult,” says the girl’s mother, “but in reality it is much more difficult to teach a child pedestrian rules.”
Tippy's childhood playmates and friends from infancy were wild animals, including the old elephant Abu, leopards, crocodiles, lions, giraffes, huge bullfrogs, and even chameleons, as well as many, many other animals.
And, of course, the Kalahari natives became the little French girl’s best friends. The Aborigines taught Tippy not only their language and customs, but also various other useful things, for example, how to extract salt
Tippy herself says about the animals: “Well, they weren’t really wild and were used to seeing people most of their lives, after all, this is a nature reserve! I wouldn't walk with unfamiliar lions. I'm not crazy after all! Only one frog was truly wild."
Later, Tippy and her parents moved to Madagascar, and when she was 10 years old, the family returned to their homeland, France.
In Paris, Tippy went to a local school for the first two years, but then she began to study at home, because everything at school was too unfamiliar and unusual for her, because life in the wild is very different from life in the civilized world.
In general, I don’t really like living in the city of Tippy. Too noisy, too dirty, too unlike the familiar world with the natives and animals. Tippy drinks only plain water, no Fanta or Coca-Cola.
She had to learn about the modern world again, because before she was so far from it.
Tippy regrets that all her knowledge was useless in the modern world. She knew all the varieties of chameleons, but knew nothing about Harry Potter. She knew how to behave when meeting a baboon, but she was scared on the subway. She played with elephants and never communicated with her friend. She kept pythons under her bed, but never heard Michael Jackson.
In the small two-room apartment of the Degre family, everything reminds of life in Africa. Exotic African furniture, African vases on the floor, African masks on the walls, even African dishes. Tippy herself considers herself a real African - after all, she was born and raised in Africa!
A book about Tippi's adventures - "Tippi of Africa" - was published and translated into many languages of the world. It is even more popular than the Harry Potter books! Tippi is not only the main character of this book, but also one of its authors. Tippi also keeps her own magazine on the Internet.
After moving to Paris, Tippy returned to Africa for some time to make six documentaries for the famous Discovery Channel. Now Tippi Degre is a student at the Sorbonne University in Paris. She is studying film art.
Add this post to such social networks as:
WALK THROUGH THE MAGAZINE
Born in Africa on June 4, 1990, into a family of French wildlife photographers, Tippi Degré had an unusual childhood. The girl grew up in the African desert and found a common language with many wild animals. An African elephant named Abu, a leopard nicknamed JB, lion cubs, giraffes, ostriches, crocodiles, zebras, cheetahs, mongooses, giant frogs and even snakes are her best friends. Africa has been her home for many years and Tippy has become very close to the ferocious animals of Namibia. Child says:
“I have no friends because I have never seen children. Animals are my friends."
The girl's parents, Sylvia and Alan Degre, documented their daughter's life in the African wilderness. The book, titled Tippy in Africa, was published in 1998 and follows the adventures of a girl, her parents and her best friends. Tippy's close relationship with African wild animals has made her very famous throughout the world. She was given the nickname Mowgli Girl.
The parents named their daughter after actress Tippi Hedren, known for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). The girl likes her name for many reasons: firstly, it is very rare, and as exceptional as Tippy’s fate, and secondly, the Hitchcock film is dedicated to birds, and Tippy loves animals very much. In addition, a tipi is the name of a traditional portable dwelling among nomadic tribes, and her name reminds the girl of the Indians, as wild as her childhood.
Tippy claims that she can talk to animals, of course, by this she means the language of gestures, body movements, glances, and so on. She says that this is the same gift as being able to draw, sing, write or study foreign languages - there is a certain secret in this.
Her mother talks about raising her daughter:
“It's incredibly difficult, but for this child, it's probably harder to learn how to cross a busy street. Tippy occasionally had the opportunity to play with peers - children of the Bushmen or toddlers from the Himba tribe, who took a foreign baby with blond hair with them on walks. But mostly she had to be content with communicating with animals, which she approached carefully, but without any fear.”
After 10 years, the family returned to France. The girl had to relearn the world. Now the girl is 22 years old. Looking back, Tippy says she had a life of real adventure. And she still considers herself a real African.
In June 2013, the girl will turn 23 years old. Her parents divorced. Tippy is currently studying film arts at the University of Paris III New Sorbonne.
Fairy tales should remain fairy tales, but each story has its own grain of truth, a certain part that was written based on real events. Mowgli is a child of the wild, raised by wolves, best friends: a panther and a bear. It seems that such a similar situation cannot happen in our modernity and multi-computerized world. In fact, there was a similar situation that was talked about a lot and loudly in the nineties of the last century. Don’t know who Tippi Degre is and why she is known all over the world?
Famous girl
Life stories always fascinate the soul, especially when it comes to the fate of a child who did not have a typical childhood for a modern person. The story of the little girl Tippi Degre was talked about a decade ago, a book was written about her adventures, which was subsequently translated into many languages of the world, six documentaries were shot, which became bestsellers. The story of a modern child, Mowgli, will make every heart melt. Detailed moments in the biography of the little girl, her childhood in the jungle, her subsequent return to her homeland in France and interesting facts from her adult life, as well as photos of Tippi Degre, will be presented below.
The beginning of the story
The baby's parents, whose names are Alan and Sylvia, worked as photographers. They had an excursion to Africa, after which it was decided to stay and live for some time in the Kalahari Desert, which is located at the intersection of the borders of Botswana, Namibia and West Africa. The girl Tippy was born in 1990 in Namibia, she was named after the American actress. The second name, which was given according to the tradition of the tribe, is Okanti, meaning "mongoose". After her birth, the Degre family went to live in a reserve in Botswana. The climate in this area is warmer and the humidity percentage is lower. It is more comfortable for a girl to grow up in such an environment. After some time, the family moved to Madagascar.
Finding friends in the wild world
The girl grew up surrounded by wild animals and dreamed of becoming Tarzan. Just as modern children quickly get used to endless streams of cars, tall skyscrapers, computer equipment, shops, cafes and restaurants, so Tippi Degre felt great among the desert, numerous wild animals, palm trees and aborigines, and considered friendship with a zebra, leopard, elephant and ostrich the most ordinary, true, correct and free. She gave each close friend a name, talked to them, helped them, and she never had a hint of fear.
The elephant's name was Abu, the lion's name was Mafusa, the leopard's name was JB, and the ostrich's name was Linda. According to her parents, the animals never tried to harm Tippi, only once a meerkat bit her on the nose, and a baboon named Cindy deprived her of a tuft of hair, thus showing her envy. The most difficult and dangerous friend was the leopard JB, whom local photographers could capture on film only when he was in a cage. Tippy was able to tame the animal, and they became the closest of friends, spending a lot of time together, and there was no aggression on his part. The friendliest and most loving was the old elephant Abu, who loved to ride the girl on himself, pouring water from his trunk, and she laughed merrily and was not afraid to run around his huge feet. The elephant loved the girl very much when she was sleeping, stood or sat next to her and drove away the flies that, in his opinion, could disturb her sleep.
No fear
Local residents taught the girl to communicate in their language, told her how to hunt properly, perform traditional rituals, and live side by side with the wild world. The baby communicated not only with animals, but also with Aboriginal children, who also taught Tippy a lot.
Living year after year in the very heart of the wild world, the girl won the favor of the animals and herself found a common language with them. Sylvia, Tippi Degre's mother, assured that fear never appeared in her thoughts; she boldly left her daughter alone with the animals, watching her from the side. According to the mother, her daughter had the happiest childhood, the joy of spending her best carefree years in the wild.
Nomadic life in search of the best photos
The parents' stories, which are described in books and films, were based on daily walks with the whole family in the wild, their little daughter always accompanying them in search of beautiful photographs. In the eyes of a child, the wild world, which is filled with danger and fear, turned out to be a home, where you don’t need to run away from animals, you shouldn’t turn your back on them, but you need to treat them like friends, studying the habits and natural instincts.
Her living conditions can be called nomadic, the Degre family lived in tents, stayed with local aborigines, and moved through the African desert year after year.
As a result, the girl assured that she understood the language of animals; it was with the help of glances, gestures, and body movements that she always knew what this or that animal was trying to tell her. She compared this kind of ability to the skills of writing or ordinary speech. An important aspect of communication: calmness, if an animal feels a person’s calmness, that he is relaxed and does not feel fear, it will also not be afraid and will strive to establish contact.
Back to Paris and noisy modernity
When Tippy celebrated her tenth birthday, the Degrès family returned to France and resumed their normal lifestyle. The period of adaptation of the baby to the usual urban environment among people was difficult and slow. The girl found a common language with animals faster than with people. Africa with its amazing nature remained in Tippy's heart forever. Adult Tippi Degre went to school, but was unable to establish contact with European schoolchildren. Her parents decided to transfer her to home schooling.
Lack of understanding of current trends
The Mowgli child did not like life in the bustle of the city; she believed that it was too dirty, noisy, and crowded, unlike the nature of Africa. The girl preferred water over advertised carbonated drinks and tried her best to create around herself that old world that she missed so much.
The young girl continued to live with memories, dreams of that unforgettable life, of Africa. The creative personality dreamed of learning how to make films herself and showing everyone a wild life untouched by the modern world. Tippi entered the Sorbonne University, where she studied the art of cinema. Already a fully grown woman, Tippy dreams of returning to Africa forever.
Recklessness or conscious decision?
If you don’t want to find out through literature who Tippy Degre is and why many admire her skills and abilities to communicate with animals, you should watch a film about a sweet, fearless girl. For ten years, the parents took photographs of their daughter and also filmed videos of her and the animals communicating. Unique photographs and films became the basis for writing numerous books and filming films. Without a doubt, many residents of modern megacities did not share the opinions of their parents; they believed that they acted recklessly by moving to live in a reserve where the girl only communicated with animals; they believed that there were more dangers than benefits. However, the adult Tippy Degre, whose photo is posted below, argued that in fact there were no absolutely wild animals nearby, in the reserve communication between animals and people is a normal phenomenon, so people had no fear of the animal world.
Filmography
In 1997, Christian Kray, known for his success in directing, made the documentary film Tippy from Africa. The film about the real “Mowgli” melted the hearts of the audience; people were interested in the girl and her fate. In 2004, 6 episodes of a documentary film called “Around the World with Tippy” were released, commissioned by Discovery. Tippy herself returned to the continent to take part in the filming. Films with Tippi Degre either surprised with their unique shots, or fascinated with carelessness and dangerous moments.
Role in a famous show
Tippy has become popular since childhood, but in modern times many TV viewers recognize her as the tiger tamer and keeper in the popular game show “Fort Boyard,” which takes place off the coast of France.
The famous French show appeared on television in the year Tippy was born -1990; numerous participants from different countries of the world took part in it over 28 years. An early nineteenth-century stone fort hides treasures that participants must find through a series of tests aimed at overcoming themselves and their fears. But not only muscles and dexterity play the main role, it is important to be smart and solve all the clues and riddles of Elder Fur. At the end of the game, teams need to move the maximum number of gold coins that are located near the tiger cages in a short time, otherwise, after time has elapsed, the cages open, and everyone risks ending up among dangerous animals. Tippi Degre is responsible for protecting the team from tigers; in “Fort Boyard” she monitors the behavior of dangerous predators, tames them and prevents them from approaching the show participants.
Tippy on social networks
A lot of users share photos of Tippy on social networks, thereby expressing admiration for her lifestyle as a child. Even after eighteen years, since it was from the age of ten that the girl and her family moved to France, she was not forgotten, and Tippy’s photographs with her favorite animals became the standard of friendship between humans and representatives of wildlife. The peak of her popularity came at the beginning of the 21st century, when books were written, documentaries were made, but currently the girl lives a completely ordinary life. She, like every person, wants to be happy and does not seek to gain unnecessary attention to herself. Now Tippi Degre is an adult 28-year-old woman whose views on life have already changed, and, even though she has changed on the outside, in her soul she has remained the same amazing Mowgli child, whose childhood was the happiest, according to her parents, because it was among the unique nature of the wild world. Children's popularity has remained in numerous films and books, as well as photographs on social networks, journalistic publications, Wikipedia and other Internet sites.
The beautiful, beautiful and cheerful Tippy Degre, whose photo is above, is proof that mysterious nature is closer than we think, and life among untouched nature and friendly animals is much happier than life in a metropolis among a computerized world and hostile people.
The amazing life story of a modern girl, Mowgli, began when two photographers one day saw an article in a book about West African fauna. One of the illustrations for the article was a photograph of two cute animals - mongooses. Young photographers decided to go to Africa to see them with their own eyes, and they stayed there, taking wonderful photographs of African fauna and making documentaries about the wildlife of the Kalahari Desert.
After some time, the Degre family had a girl, who was named after the American actress Tippi Hedren, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds. The girl’s middle name, Okanti, means “mongoose” in the Ovambo language, one of the Namibian tribes. Immediately after Tippy's birth, the management of the West African National Park, concerned for the child's safety, asked the Degre family to leave the reserve. Their next home was a reserve in Botswana. There, too, they were not thrilled that the baby would grow up among wild animals, but they allowed them to stay and live in the park. The local climate was much warmer and drier than the rainforests of the previous habitat.
In search of unique photographs of representatives of African fauna, Sylvia and Alan spent whole days in nature, and little Tippy accompanied them everywhere. She studied the wild world, in which dangers await a person at every step, learned to look straight into the eyes of wild animals, never run away from them and never turn her back on them. The girl perceived them as real friends with whom she could feel equal, played with them, raised them, knew their habits and understood all their habits. The girl's mother says that it is indeed very difficult, but for Tippi it was probably much more difficult to learn the rules of walking.
Tippy Degre grew up among the most dangerous animals on the planet, echoing the adventures of the fictional character Rudyard Kipling from The Jungle Book. While Mowgli was the son of an Indian woodcutter and raised by a pack of wolves, Tippy was raised in a nomadic life, living in tent camps in the African desert. The family lived in this area for ten years, traveling by car across the expanses of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
Little Tippy had a very unusual childhood: her “brother” was the old elephant Abu, whom she fearlessly met when she was only one and a half years old, her best friend was the leopard J&B, and her playground was the African desert. Even her father was surprised by how easily and naturally she made friends with a very dangerous predator - a leopard.
According to Tippy, there is nothing complicated here, you just need to relax, behave calmly and friendly, without making sudden movements. The parents were also scared that the baby was playing with a huge elephant, but he, in turn, dissolving all fears, gently grabbed the girl with his trunk and sat him on his back. Sometimes, when she was sleeping, Abu would lie down next to her and drive away annoying insects and flies with his trunk. Having matured, she independently climbed onto the elephant’s back and rode, holding the edges of his ears.
Over ten years of living in Africa, the girl somehow magically made friends with many wild animals, including lions, ostriches, giraffes, mongooses, caracals, crocodiles, zebras, giant frogs, cheetahs, snakes and chameleons.
Tippy claims that she can talk to animals, of course, she means by this the language of body movements, glances and gestures. She says that this is the same gift as the ability to write, draw, study foreign languages or sing - there is a certain magic and mystery in it.
Sometimes Tippy spent time with the native tribes of Namibia (Himba, Bushmen), who taught her their language, local customs, as well as many other useful skills, for example, how to get edible berries and roots. But mostly she was content with communicating with animals. While still very little, the girl said: “I have no friends. Because I rarely see children. Animals are my only and best friends.”
Unfortunately, in recent years the Botswana government has removed most of the Bushmen from the reserve.
During these ten years of living in Africa, Tippi's parents kept a photo and film epic of their unusual daughter growing up. During this time, they took a large number of unique photographs that demonstrate the unusual connection between man and wild animal.
Some people condemn the girl’s parents for such reckless behavior, in their opinion, because wild animals are not the safest company for a child, but Tippy herself is proud of her childhood and this is what she says about this: “These animals were not truly wild, after all, this is a nature reserve and they are used to contact with people most of their lives. I wouldn't walk with unfamiliar lions. There was only one frog that was truly wild.”
Such an unusual story could not remain unnoticed for long, and in 1997, director Christian Kray made the documentary "Tippi of Africa" ("Tippi from Africa"). And already in 1998, Alan Degre and Sylvia Robert published a book about the adventures of their daughter Tippi in Namibia, “Tippi of Africa,” which instantly became a bestseller and was translated into several languages of the world (Russian, unfortunately, is not yet included in this list). The book about the real Mowgli gained such great popularity that for some time it even eclipsed the books about Harry Potter.
Tippi Degre is an unusual girl who spent her childhood in Africa surrounded by wild animals who became her best friends. The girl was born on June 4, 1990 in Windhoek, Namibia, where her parents, Alan Degre and Sylvia Robert, worked as freelance wildlife photographers.
The amazing life story of a modern girl, Mowgli, began when two photographers one day saw an article in a book about West African fauna. One of the illustrations for the article was a photograph of two cute animals - mongooses. Young photographers decided to go to Africa to see them with their own eyes, and they stayed there, taking wonderful photographs of African fauna and making documentaries about the wildlife of the Kalahari Desert.
After some time, the Degre family had a girl, who was named after the American actress Tippi Hedren, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds. The girl’s middle name, Okanti, means “mongoose” in the Ovambo language, one of the Namibian tribes. Immediately after Tippy's birth, the management of the West African National Park, concerned for the child's safety, asked the Degre family to leave the reserve. Their next home was a reserve in Botswana. There, too, they were not thrilled that the baby would grow up among wild animals, but they allowed them to stay and live in the park. The local climate was much warmer and drier than the rainforests of the previous habitat.
In search of unique photographs of representatives of African fauna, Sylvia and Alan spent whole days in nature, and little Tippy accompanied them everywhere. She studied the wild world, in which dangers await a person at every step, learned to look straight into the eyes of wild animals, never run away from them and never turn her back on them. The girl perceived them as real friends with whom she could feel equal, played with them, raised them, knew their habits and understood all their habits. The girl's mother says that it is indeed very difficult, but for Tippi it was probably much more difficult to learn the rules of walking.
Tippy Degre grew up among the most dangerous animals on the planet, echoing the adventures of the fictional character Rudyard Kipling from The Jungle Book. While Mowgli was the son of an Indian woodcutter and raised by a pack of wolves, Tippy was raised in a nomadic life, living in tent camps in the African desert. The family lived in this area for ten years, traveling by car across the expanses of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
Little Tippy had a very unusual childhood: her “brother” was the old elephant Abu, whom she fearlessly met when she was only one and a half years old, her best friend was the leopard J&B, and her playground was the African desert. Even her father was surprised by how easily and naturally she made friends with a very dangerous predator - a leopard.
According to Tippy, there is nothing complicated here, you just need to relax, behave calmly and friendly, without making sudden movements. The parents were also scared that the baby was playing with a huge elephant, but he, in turn, dissolving all fears, gently grabbed the girl with his trunk and sat him on his back. Sometimes, when she was sleeping, Abu would lie down next to her and drive away annoying insects and flies with his trunk. Having matured, she independently climbed onto the elephant’s back and rode, holding the edges of his ears.
Over ten years of living in Africa, the girl somehow magically made friends with many wild animals, including lions, ostriches, giraffes, mongooses, caracals, crocodiles, zebras, giant frogs, cheetahs, snakes and chameleons.
Some people condemn the girl’s parents for such reckless behavior, in their opinion, because wild animals are not the safest company for a child, but Tippy herself is proud of her childhood and this is what she says about this: “These animals were not truly wild, after all, this is a nature reserve and they are used to contact with people most of their lives. I wouldn't walk with unfamiliar lions. There was only one frog that was truly wild.”
Such an unusual story could not remain unnoticed for long, and in 1997, director Christian Kray made a documentary film “Tippi of Africa”. And already in 1998, Alan Degre and Sylvia Robert published a book about the adventures of their daughter Tippi in Namibia, “Tippi of Africa,” which instantly became a bestseller and was translated into several languages of the world (Russian, unfortunately, is not yet included in this list). The book about the real Mowgli gained such great popularity that for some time it even eclipsed the books about Harry Potter.
Sometimes Tippy spent time with the native tribes of Namibia (Himba, Bushmen), who taught her their language, local customs, as well as many other useful skills, for example, how to get edible berries and roots. But mostly she was content with communicating with animals. While still very young, the girl said: “I have no friends. Because I rarely see children. Animals are my only and best friends.”
When Tippy was ten years old, the whole family returned to France, as the parents considered it necessary to give the girl a European education. Studying at a local school continued for the first two years, and then the girl switched to home schooling. It was very difficult for her to adapt to the conditions of city life, everything was too unusual and unfamiliar, and she could not find a common language with local children.
In 2004, Tippi returned to the African continent to make a six-part documentary, Around the World with Tippi, for the Discovery Channel. In 2005, the book “My Book of Africa” was published, in the writing of which their daughter Tippy took part along with Alan Degre and Sylvia Robert.
Today Tippi Degre is 23 years old, she studies at the University of Paris III New Sorbonne at the Faculty of Cinematography, writes books, draws and dreams of returning to her homeland, Africa, and making a documentary about it.
Original taken from