Spanie v náručí divých zvierat a porozumenie ich reči: príbeh dievčatka Mauglího Tippi Degre

To ride an ostrich, to play with a leopard – a ferocious predator, to splash in the river, which is swarming with huge crocodiles, to sleep in the arms of a lion cub under the care of an old elephant Abu… These childhood pastimes still dream of Tippi Degre, known to the whole world as the Mowgli girl. Here’s her story.

Africa instead of Paris and a toad instead of a doll.

Tippi never had toys. At the age of three, the barefoot girl with a loincloth instead of a doll tenderly clutched a huge toad to her chest. Tippy, scorched by the sultry sun of Botswana, where an unimaginable number of animals, poisonous snakes, scorpions lived, considered this world her home.

And there were no enemies in it for the girl: all Tippi called brothers and friends. On the knees of the young Frenchwoman pythons warmed up in a friendly way, and on the shoulder settled cute and affectionate meerkats.

When photographer Alan Degre and freelancer Sylvia Roberts, waving goodbye to a luxury apartment in the center of Paris, a decent income and a quiet job, went to the Black Continent, even their friends were dumbfounded by this desperate adventure.

Tippi Degret today, age 33 (center).

The couple settled in Namibia, in a national park – one of the most picturesque parts of this African country. This is also where brave Sylvia, who found herself in an interesting position, decided to give birth to a child. No doctor for hundreds of kilometers, rampant malaria and other difficulties did not stop the young woman.

On June 4, 1990, under the screams of monkeys constantly climbing through the open windows of the house, a red-haired girl was born.

“I only much later and realized what danger I could expose the baby girl! – Sylvia confessed to journalists a few years later. – Apparently, it’s the carelessness of youth, when it seems that everything is not so terrible. I’m healthy, so I’ll give birth normally.

Daughter named in honor of actress Tippi Hepburn, who played a major role in the film Hitchcock’s “The Birds”.

The wild life of Tippi

One day, a young mother at a hot African sunset came up with a crazy idea: let the baby grow up in unity with wildlife, like the children of local tribes.

From the very beginning, the Namibian authorities were not enthusiastic about the experiment. High-ranking officials did not risk damaging relations with the European country. A child eaten by wild animals could have caused an international scandal. The French couple was politely asked to leave the country.

There were no similar problems in neighboring Botswana. The Moremi Game Reserve became an ideal place for the realization of the young couple’s plans. Here Tippi Degre spent her childhood. However, now people from the Ovambo tribe called the red-haired girl Okanti. It means “mongoose” in the Aboriginal language.

Little Tippy

Aborigines taught Tippi many wisdoms, without which you can not survive in the wild. They treated the red-haired girl with special friendliness. Barefoot Okanti turned out to be a capable student and in a short time learned many vital lessons. The first of these was to avoid poisonous snakes and spiders and not disturb their peace. And most importantly, never show your back to predatory beasts. One must simply, without any aggression, look them in the eye.

It is difficult to imagine, but Tippi boldly approached African lions, which were famous for their unpredictable character. And spent hours playing with the lion cubs. It was a move no adult would have dared to make.

Tippi realized with a child’s heart that animals are almost a human world. Only more honest, trusting and unselfish. She learned to understand the language of wild animals and even talk to them in her own way.

“Animals are ingenuous. Once you’ve understood them once, that sincere love can’t be interrupted by anything! It doesn’t work that way with humans,” said the now grown-up Tippi with sadness in her voice.

World fame of the girl-Mowgli

In 1997, director Christian Clay made the documentary “Tippi from Africa”. The name of the girl-Mowgli became known to the whole world. A little later the book of the same name was published, in which the Degré family told about Okanti’s childhood and the adventures that fell to her share.

By the way, while Tippi lived in close unity with the wild African nature, she was never sick. Except for a slight cold and cuts on her legs.

Returning to the civilized world was a terrible blow to Tippi. Everything here was foreign to her. The girl literally suffocated in an unfamiliar, unfamiliar environment. Okanti longed for Botswana, for the wonderful African nights, for the huge twinkling stars in the sky, for the native music of the surrounding wildlife. Tippy skin did not perceive the stuffy city, where the apple has no place to fall. She longed for the old primitive freedom.

Tippi Degre today

Life in the urban jungle

Schooling didn’t work out. The “Botswana savage” never made any friends. Her free behavior became a headache for teachers. Tippi’s parents had to take their daughter out of school. Now she was taught in the walls of her home.

Soon, Tippi became really sick. Doctors connected it with psychological discomfort, with inability, unwillingness to adapt to the new conditions of her existence.

When 14-year-old Okanti was offered to become a heroine of the travel program “Around the World with Tippi”, she agreed with undisguised joy. A pesky ailment was lifted like a hand, because she was returning to her native and beloved Africa.

Now 33-year-old Tippi Degre is a frequent visitor to the Black Continent. She has become an ardent defender of wildlife, runs a website about Africa, makes documentaries. For this purpose, the girl received a director’s education in the French Sorbonne.

Okanti is alarmed when she sees the unique beauty of the unique country being destroyed before her eyes.

“There is still something to save, the main thing is to do it right now,” says Tippi Degre. – Everyone can start small. Little by little we will help ourselves and all living beings on Earth.