See How This Little French Girl Spent The First Ten Years Of Her Life In The African Wilderness

The pictures of a French girl who grew up playing with wild animals like lion cubs, meerkat, snakes, and cheetah, are now out. Christened with the name Tippi Benjamine Okanti Degre, this real-life Mowgli is the child of two French wildlife photographers, Sylvie Robert and Alain Degre. She was born in Namibia and stayed in the African bush for ten years. Her mother said that it was a magical advanture to see and Tippi was blessed to have the chance to experience it.

“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 10 totally in the wild,” her mother said.

Meerkat whisper.

Together with her two parents, Tippi travelled in Africa for ten years. The adventure that started in Namibia, and spanned among Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Tippi’s mother said that her child was very lucky to have spent her childhood in the biggest playground in the world.

“It was like having the biggest playground. We lived in a tent, completely in the wild, but she always woke up with the sun shining and her parents around her. She was very lucky.”

Taking a bath with a cub.

“Her everyday life was making sure monkeys did not steal her bottle, or she would call me over and point to an elephant eating from a palm tree and say ‘mummy, be quiet, we’re going to frighten him,” she added.

What would you do if your babysitters are this huge?

Now 23 years old, our little female Mowgli has published her photos in a book called Tippi of Africa.

Like in the movie Jungle Book, Tippi considered the wild animals she interacts with as her family.

“I don’t have friends here. Because I never see children. So the animals are my friends,” Tippi said.

Where to?

In the pictures, you can see how at ease Tippi is with the animals. Her mother said that Tippi communicated with them deeply.

Interspecies love

“She was so at ease with animals. She would talk to them with her eyes and her heart,” said Sylvie.

Wild, young and free.

According to journalist Jill Reilly, Tippi even befriended an elephant on her own.

“She had no fear,” her mother said.