Tippi Degré

Tippi Benjamine Okanti Degré (born June 4, 1990) is a French woman best known for spending her youth in Namibia among wild animals and tribes people.[1] In 1997, she was the protagonist of Le Monde selon Tippi (Tippi's World), filmed in Namibia and Botswana. When she was 10, Tippi wrote Tippi My Book of Africa. In 2002–03, she was the presenter of Around the World with Tippi, six wildlife and environmental TV documentaries.

Tippi Benjamine Okanti Degré
at 2014 International Environmental Film Festival
BornJune 4, 1990 (1990-06-04) (age 30)
Windhoek, Namibia

Biography

Tippi Degré was born in Windhoek, Namibia,[2] on June 4, 1990 to wildlife photographer-filmmaker parents and was raised in the bush for the first ten years of her life in Southern Africa.[3][4] She was named after the American actress Tippi Hedren.[5] During her childhood in Namibia, Degré befriended animals she lived among including a 28-year old elephant Abu, a leopard nicknamed J&B, lions, giraffes, a banded mongoose, an ostrich, meerkats, a cheetah, a caracal, snakes, a giant bullfrog and chameleons.[6]

In 2000, Degré wrote the novel Tippi - My Book of Africa, based on her life in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Madagascar[7] where she lived among wild animals and with tribes people, the San Bushmen and the Himbas.[3][4]

In 2001, she was the Godmother of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) with the French actor, producer and director Jacques Perrin, in France. In 2002–03, Degré presented six wildlife and environmental TV documentaries for the Discovery Channel.[6]

A documentary film on her experiences, Le Monde Selon Tippi ("The World According to Tippi") was released in 1997. Around the World with Tippi was released in 2004, directed by Jeanne Mascolo de Filippis.[8]

Degré studied cinema and audiovisuals in France.[9] Active in conservation and in the documentary film industry, she is a speaker and is currently the director of "El Petit FICMA," the children's section of the FICMA International Environmental Film Festival (Barcelona).[10]

References

Notes

  1. Haine, Alice (22 December 2002). "Pets and their People: The bush baby; Little Tippi walks and talks with the animals". Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  2. The Real-Life Mowgli . . The Telegraph (UK)
  3. Burrow, Lisa (19 May 1996). "Tippi: The Animal Girl of Africa". Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  4. "Young girl who's best friends with African wildlife". Wildography & Safaris. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  5. Smith, Pip (24 January 1998). "Unattractive experience of the not-so-dark continent". Daily Dispatch. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  6. Willsher, Kim (27 December 2002). "Forget being famous, says bush baby, I'd just like to be normal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  7. "Tippi My Book Of Africa". www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  8. "Around the World with Tippi (2004–2005)". IMDB. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  9. Savill, Richard (13 November 2008). "The extraordinary childhood of the girl who grew up with African animals". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  10. "Barcelona International Environmental Film Festival (FICMA)". Ficma. Retrieved 5 November 2018.

Further reading

  • Ody, Joelle; Robert, Sylvie; Degré, Alain (1998). Tippi of Africa. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 978-1-86872-083-5.
  • Degré, Tippi; Robert, Sylvie; Degré, Alain (2005). My Book of Africa. Struik. ISBN 978-1-77007-029-5.
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