Akela (The Jungle Book) Mowgli has been rejected by humanity and the pack is threatened with extinction by a rampaging pack of dholes, Akela joins the battle and fights to the death, finally dying in Mowgli's company ("Red Dog", in "The Second Jungle Book"). Akela did this for the love of Mowgli and his death is a major factor in Mowgli's decision to finally return to human society at the age of 17. Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of scouting, based aspects of Cub Scouting on Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli Stories. In Cub Scouting, the terms "Law of the Pack," "Akela" (the leader of a group),
Rudyard Kipling poem was originally published at the head of a story about the Battle of Jutland and appears to refer to a death at sea; the 'Jack' referred to is probably a generic 'Jack Tar'. In the Kipling family, Jack was the name of the family dog while John Kipling was always John, making the identification of the protagonist of "My Boy Jack" with John Kipling somewhat questionable. However, it is true that Kipling was emotionally devastated by the death of his son. It is said that Kipling helped assuage his grief over his son's death by reading the novels of