A Unique Childhood: Tippi Degre’s Adventures in the African Wilderness

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Imagine growing up with an elephant as your sibling and a leopard as your best friend. For Tippi Degre, this was a reality.

Raised by French photographers Sylvie Robert and Alan Degre, Tippi spent the first decade exploring the African wilderness, and her parents documented her incredible journey.

Drawing comparisons to Mowgli, the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, Tippi’s remarkable upbringing has been captured in a recently re-released book, Tippi: My Book of Africa.

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Now an adult, the book offers a fascinating glimpse into her unique childhood as she formed bonds with some of Africa’s most majestic creatures, including the elephant she considers her brother.

Tippi, aged 6, sitting with J&B, a tame adult leopard in she met in Namibia during her extraordinary childhood. Source: Daily Mail
At the age of just one and a half, Tippi was pictured by her mother drinking her bottle in an elephant herd in Botswana. Source: Daily Mail
With Cindy the baboon at the age of six in Namibia, Tipi’s childhood was an unusual one in which she traveled extensively around Africa. Source: Daily Mail
Tippi, aged six, with Abu the 34-year-old elephant, in Okavango Swamps, Botswana. She described the huge animal as her ‘brother’ after striking up a friendship with him. Source: Daily Mail
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Close to nature: Tippi was pictured by her mother with a meerkat climbing on her in Nambia when she was six years old. Source: Daily Mail
With a young cheetah in Namibia when she was six, Tippi had an extraordinary childhood that saw her travel extensively in Africa with her parents. Source: Daily Mail
Incredible: Her mother snapped this image of Tippi riding on the top of elephant Abu’s head in Botswana when she was six. Source: Daily Mail
In a penguin colony in Namibia when she was six, the incredible pictures are included in the book Tippi: My Book of Africa. Source: Daily Mail
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The young girl is playing with two meerkats at the age of six in a magical image taken in Namibia. Source: Daily Mail
While most children would be intimidated at the sight of 34-year-old elephant Abu, she appeared totally at ease in Botswana. Source: Daily Mail
The daughter of two French photographers, Tippi is pictured on the back of Linda, a tamed ostrich in South Africa. Source: Daily Mail
Brave: The young girl, who was six when this picture was taken, is pictured with a rock python at the age of six in Namibia. Source: Daily Mail
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Tippi is pictured in front of 34-year-old elephant Abu in Botswana at the age of six. Source: Daily Mail
Learning experience: The young girl is pictured with Tkui of the San Bushmen of northern Namibia in one of the images in the book. Source: Daily Mail
Tippi is being fed water from a root plant by Tkui in the Okavango Swamps in Botswana. Source: Daily Mail
At the age of six with two members of the San Bushmen in northern Namibia when she was six years old. Source: Daily Mail
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Tippi was pictured by her mother, French photographer Sylvie Robert, with the women and children of the San Bushmen of northern Namibia. Source: Daily Mail
A book chronicling Tippi’s experiences during her first ten years has been released, featuring pictures by her parents. Source: Daily Mail

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