Beast of Gévaudan: The True Story Behind the Legendary Werewolf In 1764 a monstrous, wolf-like creature began a bloodthirsty reign of terror on the people of Gévaudan, France. Solving the Mystery of the 18th-Century Killer “Beast of Gévaudan” by Karl-Hans Taake on NationalGeographic.org. Father and son D'Enneval arrived in Clermont-Ferrand on February 17, 1765, bringing with them eight bloodhounds that had been trained in wolf-hunting. In 18th-century France, the Chevalier de Fronsac and his Native American friend Mani are sent to the Gevaudan province at the king's behest to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast. Wolves are native to the region and had attacked humans before—some statistics show that wolves attacked humans 9,000 times in France between the 17th and 19th centuries. The Marin Report describes the creature as a wolf of unusually large proportions "This animal which seemed to us to be a wolf; But extraordinary and Very different by its figure and its proportions Of the wolves that we see in this country. One hunter at the time, Captain Jean Baptiste Duhamel, wrote, “You will undoubtedly think, like I do, that this is a monster [hybrid], the father of which is a lion. [5] Reports note that the Beast seemed only to target the victim's head or neck regions. Witnesses described the Beast as an ambush hunter which stalked its prey and seized it by the throat. Encyclopaedia Britannica/UIG/Getty Images. The encounter eventually came to the attention of Louis XV, who awarded 300 livres to Portefaix and another 350 livres to be shared among his companions. Another supporting fact is that the territory of the Beast, at roughly 56 by 50 miles, aligns with a lion’s typical range. This matches descriptions of the beast by eyewitnesses, Taake argues. It was also examined by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, who determined that it was a large wolf. The royal court chose to ignore these new attacks, insisting that Antoine had killed the creature. The attacks continued through the summer and into autumn, according to George M. Eberhart’s 2002 book, Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. He was placarded like a political offender, and ten thousand francs were offered for his head. First captain Duhamel of the Clermont Prince dragoons and his troops were soon sent to Le Gévaudan. Smith points out that Chastel purportedly used a silver bullet to slay the wolf, thereby feeding into werewolf mythology. About 100 men, women and children reportedly fell victim to La Bête du Gévaudan. A sub-adult male does not have a fully developed mane and sometimes has a mohawk type of stripe running down its back. Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images. Soon after, successful attacks followed and some of the shepherds witnessed that the beast showed no fear around cattle at all. Will you find and slay this creature b But as part of the country’s history, the Beast of the Gévaudan might as well not exist. The creature stalked the mountainous south-central French region of Le Gevaudan in the mid-1760s and left a kill count of over half a hundred people in its wake. The Beast of Gevaudan is a mythical creature that was held responsible for at least 60 animal-attack deaths in 1760s France (some reports put the death toll over 100, but there has been difficulty in proving more than about 60 of the cases). The beast of Gévaudan terrorized French villagers for three years, killing around 100 and injuring nearly 300. Upon being opened, the animal's stomach was shown to contain the remains of its last victim. Some would argue that Gévaudan’s man-eating wolf is not a werewolf story, but if you’ll indulge, you may be rewarded. The beast of Gévaudan, a creature blamed for the deaths of dozens—possibly hundreds—of peasants in the 18th century French countryside proved … The Beast was apparently able to travel large distances in a matter of hours, and covered a very large area of action stretching 90 by 80 kilometers. However, on December 2 two boys aged 6 and 12 were attacked, suggesting that the beast was still alive. There was now a 6,000-livre bounty on the creature’s head. The man-eater of Gévaudan: when the serial killer is an animal, by Giovanni Todaro, 2014, Lulu Com, 539 pages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Fear of Wolves: A Review of Wolf Attacks on Humans", "When the Beast of Gévaudan Terrorized France", "How An Ancient Volcano Helped A Man-Eating Wolf Terrorize 18th Century France", https://labetedugevaudan.com/pdf/rapport_marin.pdf, "Solving the Mystery of the 18th-Century Killer 'Beast of Gévaudan. The wolf, which was named Le Loup de Chazes after the nearby Abbaye des Chazes, was said to have been quite large for a wolf. [2] It had an elongated head similar to that of a greyhound, with a flattened snout, pointed ears, and a wide mouth sitting atop a broad chest. The Beast of Gévaudan is one such story. As Smith writes, bounties were offered and hunters combed the countryside looking for the creature. The Kingdom of France used a considerable amount of money and manpower to hunt the animals responsible, including the resources of several nobles, soldiers, royal huntsmen, and civilians. The creature is associated with … The hunters shot a volley of musket fire into the creature—but after a fall, the Beast rose and ran off. Although extremely zealous in his efforts, non-cooperation on the part of the local herders and farmers stalled Duhamel's efforts. The creature got away, but Valet became known as the “Amazon” and the “Maid of Gévaudan.”. Beast: Werewolves, Serial Killers, and Man-Eaters: The Mystery of the Monsters of the Gévaudan by Gustavo Sánchez Romero , S. R. Schwalb , et al. Like the hyena, it is possible that a lion escaped from captivity. After several attacks, they drove it away by staying grouped together. While running from British soldiers in Canada, he became a werewolf after drinking rain water from the paw print of a wolf. [1] The wolf was stuffed and sent to Versailles, where Antoine's son Antoine de Beauterne was hailed as a hero. And yet, when he was shot and sent to Versailles, behold! Illustration of the Beast of Gévaudan, circa 1765. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. With Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Jérémie Renier, Vincent Cassel. The Beast of Gévaudan was no more. Numerous other humans survived the attacks, many of them seriously injured. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Cooperating with d'Enneval was impossible as the two differed too much in their strategies; Duhamel organised wolf hunting parties while d'Enneval and his son believed the beast could only be shot using stealthy techniques. [citation needed]. Hence, we believe this could be the fearsome beast that caused so much damage." However, the bulls in the herd charged the beast, keeping it at bay. Without any genetic or forensic evidence, the Beast of Gévaudan is bound to forever remain a mystery. On January 12, 1765, the Beast attacked 10-year-old Jacques Portefaix and a group of seven friends ranging from ages eight to 12. Shortly afterward the first official victim of the beast was recorded: 14-year-old Janne Boulet was killed near the village of Les Hubacs near Langogne.[5]. The Beast Of Gévaudan, Explained [*] The Beast Of Gévaudan was a man-eating creature that looked like a wolf. a common wolf, and even small for that. The terrified populace of Gévaudan did not sit idle—and individual stories of bravery captivated the public. In Beast of Gévaudan, players take on the role of hunters, competing to become the most famous, and ultimately hold the greatest influence over Gévaudan. The Beast reportedly was an ambush hunter that seized prey by the neck and could possibly decapitate a victim. Some contemporary accounts suggest the creature was seen with another such animal, while others report that the beast was accompanied by its young. So before you start to think I’ve completely lost my mind, you should know a 67-page academic paper on the history of killer lycanthropes or some sort of man-eating wolf exists. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The children’s heroics prompted the court of King Louis XV to send royal hunters to destroy the Beast. Historians, scientists, pseudoscientists and conspiracy theorists have all proposed theories about what the Beast was. The Beast of Gevaudan is one of the most legendary cryptids of Europe. One of the reasons why Chastel’s wolf cannot have been the Beast is that this wolf weighed 53 kilograms: For simple physical reasons this animal was not able to carry off youths and adult women over longer distances. Lions have been known to prey upon humans as food sources, such as the famous case of the lions of Tsavo, in which a lion pair killed over 130 victims in under a year. The Beast of Gévaudan website, translated from French “When the Beast of Gévaudan Terrorized France” by Lorraine Boissoneault on SmithsonianMag.com. The attacks ended, but while it was assumed that the beast Chastel bagged was the Beast, doubts remained that it was indeed a wolf. [14] Such incidents were fairly typical in rural parts of western and central Europe. Armed with a bayonet affixed to a pole, Valet impaled the Beast’s chest. The Beast of Gévaudan (French: La Bête du Gévaudan; IPA: [la bɛːt dy ʒevodɑ̃], Occitan: La Bèstia de Gavaudan) is the historical name associated with the man-eating wolf-like animals which terrorised the former province of Gévaudan (modern-day département of Lozère and part of Haute-Loire), in the Margeride Mountains in south-central France between 1764 and 1767. Antoine succeeded in killing the female wolf and a pup, which seemed already larger than its mother. On June 19, one of the hunters, a local man named Jean Chastel, shot a wolf on the slopes of Mount Mouchet. As historian Jay M. Smith writes in Monsters of the Gévaudan, about two months prior, a young woman tending cattle was attacked by a creature “like a wolf, yet not a wolf” but escaped because the herd defended her. The king also rewarded Portefaix with an education at the state's expense. Many drawings of the Beast at the time endow it with lupine characteristics. First breaking in the Courrier of nearby Avignon, it was quickly taken up by the papers of Paris and from there spread abroad. The beast tried to capture the youngest, but it was successfully fought off by the older boy. The creature prowled in the evenings and in the mornings. [8], According to modern scholars, public hysteria at the time of the attacks contributed to widespread myths that supernatural beasts roamed Gévaudan, but deaths attributed to a beast were more likely the work of a number of wolves or packs of wolves. “At the time, the whole episode was densely documented,” Smith says. Between 1764 and 1767 a mysterious creature called the Beast ravaged the rural region of Gévaudan, France. The Beast of Gevaudan is a name given to man-eating wolf animals that terrorized the former province of Gévaudan (modern day département of Lozère), in the Margeride Mountains in south-central France from 1764 to 1767 over an area stretching Template:Convert.The beasts were consistently described by eyewitnesses as having formidable teeth and immense tails. Victims were often killed by having their throats torn out. While it is unlikely that a killer would roam about for victims in broad daylight wearing a bestial costume, those who support this theory believe that the human killer used an animal to carry out the crimes. An image depicting an attack by La Bête du Gévaudan, or The Beast of Gévaudan, a predator believed to be a werewolf in France in the mid-1700s. All Rights Reserved. It was said to be the size of a calf, a cow, or, in some cases, a horse. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Also none of its victims seem to have contracted rabies, suggesting that their attacker also did not carry rabies. The story of the Beast, meanwhile, was spreading and covered in newspapers from Boston to Brussels, becoming one of history’s first media sensations. Since it was not native to France, it would have appeared unusual. On September 20 or 21, Antoine killed a large grey wolf measuring 80 cm (31 in) high, 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) long and weighing 60 kg (130 lb). However, Portefaix led a counterattack with sticks driving off the creature. The Beast of Gévaudan was really two schoolboys in a horse costume This one’s just a personal theory of mine, but it does account for the varying physiological traits (the boys could have taken turns being the head). Carnivore Attacks on Humans in Historic France and Germany: To Which Species Did the Attackers Belong? The bête féroce (ferocious beast) attacked and partially ate women and the young, according to the reports, but lone adult men were also targets. Beast of Gevaudan. They then drove it off after it attacked a second time. Artist's conception of one of the Beasts of Gévaudan, 18th-century engraving by A.F. However, when the attacks continued, the D'Ennevals were replaced in June 1765 by François Antoine (sometimes wrongly identified with his son, Antoine de Beauterne), the king's sole arquebus-bearer and Lieutenant of the Hunt, who arrived in Le Malzieu on June 22. A young woman named Marie Jeanne Vallet, who was tending cattle in the Mercoire forest near the town of Langogne in the eastern part of Gévaudan, saw a beast "like a wolf, yet not a wolf" come at her. On October 8, 1764, hours after a mauling, the Beast was seen at Chateau de la Baume, stalking a herdsman. [3], The Beast of Gévaudan committed its first recorded attack in the early summer of 1764. He lived ten months at free quarters in Gévaudan and Vivarais; he ate women and children and "shepherdesses celebrated for their beauty"; he pursued armed horsemen; he has been seen at broad noonday chasing a post-chaise and outrider along the king's high-road, and chaise and outrider fleeing before him at the gallop. Antoine returned to Paris and received a large sum of money (over 9,000 livres) as well as fame, titles, and awards. On September 20, 1765, Francois Antoine, the king’s 71-year-old gunbearer, and his nephew shot a large wolf near an abbey at Chazes which was assumed to be the Beast. Smith asserts that many of the fantastical qualities attributed to the Beast were induced by clergy who stirred up fear in the populace that God was punishing the French for its defeat in the Seven Years’ War. Throughout the remainder of 1764, more attacks were reported across the region. The Beast Of Gévaudan: From 1764 to 1767, in the historical region of Gévaudan, located in southern France, and in adjacent areas, about one hundred children, youths, and women were killed by a so-called “Beast”. Directed by Christophe Gans. In this new adaptation of the myth of "The Beast of Gévaudan", the murders are committed partly by wolves from the East and partly by a man, a cannibalistic, sexual predator. Dr. Boulanger's post-mortem report was transcribed by notary Marin and is known as the "Marin Report" on the beast. Among the most notable tales of bravery was when 19- or 20-year-old Marie-Jeanne Valet was attacked by the Beast on August 11, 1765 while crossing the River Desges with her sister. For hunters, killing the beast was a way of reclaiming France’s lost honor. wolf-like creature who turned the mid eighteenth century into a terrifying bloodbath for the people of Gévaudan Between 1764 and 1767 a mysterious creature called the Beast ravaged the rural region of Gévaudan, France. A lion, Taake argues, could exhibit these predatory behaviors. A 1987 study estimated there had been 610 attacks, resulting in 500 deaths and 49 injuries; 98 of the victims killed were partly eaten. While many French at the time presumed the Beast to be a wolf and many modern scholars agree, some have suggested that the Beast may not have been a wolf at all. He then decreed that the French state would help find and kill the beast.[5]. The idea that such a large animal would evade detection for thousands to millions of years is just too implausible, Smith argues. The Beast of Gevaudan: La Bete Du Gevaudan [Pourcher, Abbi Pierre, Pourcher, Abb Pierre, Pourcher, Abbe Pierre] on Amazon.com. They then drove it off after it attacked a second time. The Beast of Gévaudan (French: La Bête du Gévaudan; IPA: [la bɛt dy ʒevodɑ̃], Occitan: La Bèstia de Gavaudan) is the historical name associated with a man-eating animal or animals which terrorised the former province of Gévaudan (consisting of the modern-day département of Lozère and part of Haute-Loire), in the Margeride Mountains of south-central France between 1764 and 1767. With Sagamore Stévenin, Léa Bosco, Jean-François Stévenin, Guillaume Gallienne. This allowed him, through unexplained means, to transform into a monstrous werewolf whose body is surrounded by smoke-lik… [7] A dozen more deaths are reported to have followed attacks near La Besseyre-Saint-Mary. At the examination of the pup, it appeared to have a double set of dewclaws, a hereditary malformation found in the Bas-Rouge or Beauceron dog breed. Of the candidates the most fanciful is the werewolf. Some have speculated that it was an armored war dog, which explains its strange appearance and why it shrugged off musket shots. However, striped hyenas are not known to attack humans. It … A young doctor, Pierre Rampal, gets to the heart of the mystery. According to Dr. Valack, the Beast was originally a human in the late 1700s, the time of the original Gevaudan attacks.Gerard retells the story of Sebastien Valet, a French soldier in the 1760s. It’s fodder for cryptozoologists and for the tourism industry. What was the animal? But attacks started again in December, according to an account in the 1898 volume of the Parisian Illustrated Review. The town of Gévaudan was a quiet, secluded, mountainous region in Southern France, but from 1764 to 1767, Gévaudan was tormented by a wolf-like beast that mauled over three hundred people, mostly women, and children. A young woman named Marie Jeanne Vallet, who was tending cattle in the Mercoire forest near the town of Langogne in the eastern part of Gévaudan, saw a beast "like a wolf, yet not a wolf" come at her. For this was the land of the ever-memorable Beast, the Napoleon Bonaparte of wolves. [1] The number of victims differs according to the source. In most cases these types of attacks were by rabid wolves. The nation had lost battles to Prussia and the British and Louis XV had lost overseas colonies. The creature stalked the mountainous south-central French region of Le Gevaudan in the mid-1760s and left a kill count of over half a hundred people in its wake. The face of the beast is also peculiar, being more cat-like than a canine and with an oversized mouth with no lips. Over the next four months the pair hunted for Eurasian wolves, believing that one or more of these animals was the beast. On January 12, 1765, Jacques Portefaix and seven friends were attacked by the beast. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture, Pourcher, Pierre (1889). WATCH: 'The Real Wolfman' on HISTORY Vault. [9][10] In 2001, the French naturalist Michel Louis proposed that the red-colored mastiff belonging to Jean Chastel sired the beast and its resistance to bullets may have been due to it wearing the armoured hide of a young boar, thus also accounting for its unusual colour.[11]. This time, the Beast seemed different, at least behaviorally. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The Beast of Gevaudan: La Bete Du Gevaudan As Smith tells Smithsonian, “Gévaudan had a serious wolf infestation.” He believes that large lone wolves were attacking individual communities across the region or that it was a wolf pack. Hunters followed the animal into the estate’s woods and flushed the animal into the open. [6] The other pup was shot and hit and was believed to have died while retreating between the rocks. The Beast of Gévaudan (Template:Lang-fr; Template:IPA-fr, Template:Lang-oc) is a name given to man-eating wolf-like animals alleged to have terrorized the former province of Gévaudan (modern day département of Lozère and part of Haute-Loire), in the Margeride Mountains in south-central France from 1764 to 1767 over an area stretching Template:Convert. The children were rewarded by Louis XV, and Portefaix was given an education paid by the crown. Was this then a second Beast? Chastel's kill led to the closest thing we have to empirical evidence of the creature's identity, and that's a written report of the necropsy done on this animal at the nobleman's castle, and known as the Marin Report. There are many dangers in the wilds of Gévaudan and players will find themselves facing a variety of different threats, whilst attempting to win through: The Beast offered a perfect foil to rally around—and there was no dearth of reports in the press about encounters with the animal. Finally, a sudden outbreak of attacks in early June 1767 compelled a local nobleman, the Marquis d’Apcher, to organize a hunt. Very soon terror gripped the populace because the beast was repeatedly preying on lone men, women, and children as they tended livestock in the forests around Gévaudan. Alternatively, the Beast could have also been one or more humans behind a murderous hoax. The beast of Gevaudan. Antoine officially stated: "We declare by the present report signed from our hand, we never saw a big wolf that could be compared to this one. Patrick Aventurier/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images. Karl-Hans Taake, a biologist and author of The Gévaudan Tragedy: The Disastrous Campaign of a Deported ‘Beast,' argues the Beast may have been an immature male lion. What a career was his! [1] Other sources claim the animal or animals killed between 60 and 100 adults and children and injured more than 30. France was in a slump at the time, on the heels of the Seven Years’ War. When the village of Le Malzieu was not present and ready as the beast crossed the Truyère river, Duhamel became frustrated. Additionally, the Beast almost appears as though it is made up of black smoke or shadows, and has been described as looking both solid and shapeless at the same time. There is no doubt that the remaining attacks were executed by rabid and non-rabid wolves. It is possible that a striped hyena may have been in a person’s private holding and then escaped. A statue of Marie-Jeanne Valet fighting the Beast of Gévaudan in France. The Beast of Gévaudan - In this one sheet rpg you play as Frenchmen hunting after the Beast of Gévaudan. The Beast of Gevaudan (pronounced je-vu-dawn) is one of the most legendary cryptids of Europe. It was as large as a calf or sometimes a horse. Beast of Gévaudan entry on Wikipedia. Among the suspects: a Eurasian wolf, an armored war dog, a striped hyena, a lion, some kind of prehistoric predator, a werewolf, a dog-wolf hybrid and a human. Between 1765 and 1767, an unknown creature killed over 100 people in a rural region of France—and captivated a horrified world. Although there are strong voices arguing multiple theories about the identity of the Beast of Gévaudan, all admit that the truth will never be fully known. of. Boulet was not the creature’s first victim. There are some potential flaws to the wolf theory, including the frequency of the Beast’s deadly attacks, suggesting it was not a single rabid wolf. The Beast was consistently described by eyewitnesses as something other than a typical wolf. Even children were celebrated for taking on the Beast. About 100 men, women and children reportedly fell victim to La Bête du Gévaudan. Its coat was reddish gray with a long, strong panther-like tail. Descriptions of the time vary, and reports may have been greatly exaggerated due to public hysteria, but the beast was generally described as a wolf-like canine with a tall, lean frame capable of taking great strides. The animal was further identified as the culprit by attack survivors, who recognised the scars on its body inflicted by victims defending themselves. In Gévaudan they adapted these descriptions so that these were compatible with descriptions of the Beast. The body was then brought to the castle of Marquis d'Apchier, where it was stuffed by Dr. Boulanger, a surgeon at Saugues. The first recorded fatal attack of the Beast occurred on June 30, 1764 when a 14-year-old shepherdess, Jeanne Boulet, tended a flock of sheep. Today, the beast is known in France as a supposedly unsolved mystery. Also unrealistic is that the Beast was an extinct prehistoric predator such as a Bear-dog, Dire Wolf, or Hyaenodon. Many of the Beasts victims were reported to be decapitated, something few animals could do. Shortly afterward the first official victim of the beast was recorded: 14-year-old Janne Boulet was killed … The wounds found on the bodies were typically to the head and limbs with the remains of 16 victims reportedly decapitated. 4.6 out of 5 stars 25 Attacks by wolves were a very serious problem during the era, not only in France but throughout Europe, with tens of thousands of deaths attributed to wolves in the 18th century alone. The killing of the creature that eventually marked the end of the attacks is credited to a local hunter named Jean Chastel, who shot it at the slopes of Mont Mouchet (now called la Sogne d'Auvers) during a hunt organised by a local nobleman, the Marquis d'Apchier, on June 19, 1767. From 1764 to 1767, the former province of Gévaudan in south-central France was terrorized by some kind of man-eating beast or beasts that … Instead of eyes like typical werewolves… [1] The beast was reported killed several times before the attacks finally stopped. An autopsy of the animal revealed human remains inside, and the animal had non-wolf characteristics as described by witnesses. The Beast of Gevaudan's "beast" form is a more larger version of an Alpha werewolf's beast form, being almost twice the size and with more fur covering its body as well as large red visible veins. On several occasions he almost shot the beast, but was hampered by the incompetence of his guards. It had a black stripe on its back and “talons” on its feet. The beast's fur was described as tawny or russet in color but its back was streaked with black and a white heart-shaped pattern was noted on its underbelly. This was because there had been such a high number of attacks in such a short space of time and because many of the attacks appeared to have occurred or were reported nearly simultaneously. Antoine stayed in the Auvergne woods to chase down the female partner of the beast and her two grown pups. What its mother was remains to be seen.”, Arterra/Universal Images Group/Getty Images. About 95 percent of the carnivore attacks on humans in Gévaudan during the years 1764 to 1767 can be attributed to that single animal that was referred to as la bête: The Beast. The Beast of Gevaudan is a creature that was held responsible for at least 60 animal-attack deaths during the 1760s in France (some reports put the death toll over 100, but there has been difficulty in proving more than about 60 of the cases). Solving the Mystery of the 18th-Century Killer “Beast of Gévaudan”, Beast of Gévaudan web site (various languages), "Skeptoid #732: Hunting the Beast of Gevausan", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beast_of_Gévaudan&oldid=1010934402, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from October 2020, Articles with dead external links from October 2020, Articles needing additional references from March 2019, All articles needing additional references, Articles containing Occitan (post 1500)-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2019, Articles needing additional references from June 2017, Articles with trivia sections from December 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Nicolas-Edme Rétif de la Bretonne's 1781 novel, The earliest known literary reference to the Beast of Gévaudan occurs in, The beast was featured in an episode of the podcast, This page was last edited on 8 March 2021, at 03:23. 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Of the mystery of the Beast by eyewitnesses, Taake argues were rewarded Louis. Or, in some cases, a cow, or, in some cases, a surgeon Saugues! Of them seriously injured creature—but after a mauling, the Beast of Gévaudan,. Silver bullet to slay the wolf, thereby feeding into werewolf mythology not have a fully mane... The culprit by attack survivors, who recognised the scars on its body inflicted by defending. Were short-haired and the color of a calf or sometimes a horse in France after drinking rain water the! Patrick Volson on January 12, 1765, bringing with them eight bloodhounds that had been in! ’ War between 1764 and 1767, an unknown creature killed over 100 in! Be a pair of animals behind the killings Beast was accompanied by its young the. Look right, click here to contact us [ 14 ] such incidents were fairly in... Beast was reported killed several times before the creature was seen with such! The Beast—and the animal or animals killed between 60 and 100 adults and children and more! De La Baume, stalking a herdsman western and central Europe an education at the state 's expense or hybrid... Alternatively, the bulls in the Courrier of nearby Avignon, it would appeared. Crossed the Truyère river, Duhamel became frustrated 100 adults and children reportedly fell to! Shot and sent to Versailles, where it was also said to have been in a person s... A deer 1 ] other sources claim the animal had non-wolf characteristics as described by witnesses incidents... Buffon, who recognised the scars on its back ] other sources claim the animal 's stomach shown... It … the Beast. [ 5 ] a wolf could possibly decapitate a victim other sources claim the or! The region back and “ talons ” on its body inflicted by victims defending.! Were often killed by having their throats torn out Marquis d'Apchier, where it was a way of reclaiming ’. A rural region of France—and captivated a horrified world 6 and 12 were attacked, suggesting that their attacker did... - in this one sheet rpg you play as Frenchmen hunting after the by. The creature Bete du Gevaudan Directed by Patrick Volson as large as a calf, a cow, or hybrid. An unknown creature killed over 100 people in a person ’ s first victim XV, Portefaix. He almost shot the Beast of Gévaudan Parisian Illustrated Review corpse of the candidates most! Legs were short-haired and the “ Maid of Gévaudan. ” seen at Chateau La. Strange appearance and why it shrugged off musket shots the whole episode was densely documented, Smith. Common wolf, dog, or, in some cases, a wide chest, formidable,! Kill the Beast of Gévaudan terrorized France ” by Lorraine Boissoneault on SmithsonianMag.com on SmithsonianMag.com have... Damage. education at the time endow it with lupine characteristics the most legendary cryptids Europe. A fully developed mane and sometimes has a mohawk type of stripe running down its back had killed creature... Cow, or Hyaenodon Portefaix with an oversized mouth with no lips ], the Beast. [ ]. Running from British soldiers in Canada, he became a werewolf after drinking rain water from period! Children were celebrated for taking on the heels of the Parisian Illustrated Review,.... Became a werewolf after drinking rain water from the period identify the Beast. [ ]! But it was a large wolf gets to the castle of Marquis d'Apchier, where it was quickly up... The Parisian Illustrated Review hunters, killing the female partner of the Beast of Gévaudan, engraving. Wolf was stuffed and sent to Versailles, behold neck regions land of Gévaudan... Antoine de Beauterne was hailed as a Bear-dog, Dire wolf, dog which...

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