Mowgli is a fictional character created by Rudyard Kipling, first appearing in the short story "In the Rukh" (1893) and later becoming the protagonist of The Jungle Book (1894) and The Second Jungle Book (1895). The name Mowgli, given by his adopted wolf parents, is said to mean "frog" in the stories, though Kipling admitted the name was made up. Mowgli is a feral boy raised by wolves in the jungles of central India, specifically the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh.