Bagheera 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 Raja of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, Bagheera begins to plan for his freedom after his mother dies. Once he is mature and strong enough, he breaks the lock on his cage and escapes
The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story Khan falls for Mowgli's trap, a large circle made from vines. With Shere Khan in the circle, Mowgli sets the vines on fire using a match he found at the wooden house back at Monkey Town, trapping Shere Khan by surrounding him with flames. Mowgli then banishes Shere Khan from the jungle as Bagheera, Baloo, Little Raksha, Hathi and the wolf bullies look on. Shere Khan swears never to return to the jungle, so Mowgli allows him to leave. Mowgli is praised by everyone, including the wolf bullies, who admit that they were wrong about him. The role of leader