Bagheera worried about what his child will find around the next corner, the big cat who knows he has to let go just a little but can't find it in himself to do so". Bagheera Bagheera (; "Baghīrā"/"Bagīdah") is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in the "Jungle Book" (coll. 1894) and the "Second Jungle Book" (coll. 1895). He is a black panther (melanistic Indian leopard) who serves as friend, protector and mentor to the "man-cub" Mowgli. The word "bagheera" is Hindi/Urdu for black panther-- although the root word bagh means tiger. Born in captivity in the menagerie of
The Jungle Book his scheme to develop the morale and fitness of working-class youths in cities. Akela, the head wolf in "The Jungle Book", has become a senior figure in the movement; the name is traditionally adopted by the leader of each Cub Scout pack. "The Jungle Book" has been adapted many times in a wide variety of media. In literature, Robert Heinlein wrote the Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel, "Stranger in a Strange Land" (1961), when his wife, Virginia, suggested a new version of "The Jungle Book", but with a child raised by Martians instead of wolves. Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book"