Tippi í Afríku

Tippi Degré is a French girl, born June 4th 1990, who grew up in Namibia among wild animals and tribespeople. Her childhood was spent playing with animals that most people would not dare to approach in the wild, but somehow her childish innocence, naiveté or courage - whatever you want to call it - gave her the opportunity to connect with these animals in a very unique way.

Her parents were working in Africa as wildlife photographers, which is the reason why she was able to become friends with all of the animal subjects. The pictures that exist of her playing with other animals are quite amazing. Here are a few examples:













More pictures can be seen here. They almost seem like something out of a Hallmark or Disney movie - quite unreal. Indeed, I'm having a hard time believing parts of this Tippi story. I'll have to keep an eye out for more stuff about this wild child of Africa... Tippi also has an official website, which seems not to have been updated for nine years (at least not the English part).

Books have been published and documentaries made about her adventures - the most famous being the book Tippi of Africa: The Little Girl Who Talks to the Animals. She is now 19 years old, living in Paris, trying to get used to regular city life. The following trailer is from a documentary made a couple of years ago in the attempt to "bridge the gap" between the wildlife of Africa and the TV-audience of the West:



PS: I first heard about Tippi from a guy who was sitting at my table in a vegan kitchen/restaurant, where I was alone, eating and reading Timothy Treadwell's Among Grizzlies. The book sparked a discussion of humans and animals living together, which led to him telling me about the famous Tippi. He was a little younger than me and recalled having seen all these pictures when he was growing up - and really envying her too.