Answer: Bagheera 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 Hindustani for panther or leopard, although the root word bagh means tiger.
Oral tradition means a tradition passed down through generations only through storytelling aloud. Writing it down would disqualify it from this category.
