Claim: Baloo is a bear.

Baloo -LRB- भालू Bhālū , `` bear '' -RRB- is a main fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling 's The Jungle Book from 1894 and The Second Jungle Book from 1895 . Baloo , a bear , is the strict teacher of the cubs of the Seeonee wolf pack . His most challenging pupil is the `` man-cub '' Mowgli . Baloo and Bagheera , a panther , save Mowgli from Shere Khan the tiger and endeavor to teach Mowgli the Law of the Jungle in many of The Jungle Book stories .