Beast of Gévaudan

''Drawing of the monster which is laying waste on Gévaudan. This beast has the size of a young bull and prefers to attack women and children. It drinks their blood, severs their head and drags it away. (Translation of the beast's description from the picture)''

The Beast of Gévaudan was an enigmatic feral animal of undetermined species, which plagued the land of Gévandan during the eighteenth century, attacking more than 200 people with 80 to 100 casualties and many serious injuries. Countless theories were made about the nature of the beast, which has yet to be explained and remains an enigma for both scientists and historians. Its mystery and its gruesome tale inspired many fictions and stories.

The Beast terrorized Gévaudan, a former province of central France which corresponds to the present-day Lauzère and Haute-Loire departments. It is infamous for its size, its ferocity and the fact that it escaped considerable manpower (ranging from peasants' mobs to expert hunters) for years, even resurfacing a short while after being reportedly killed. The Beast was apparently able to travel large distances in a matter of hours, and covered a very large area of action, streching 90 by 80 kilometers.

It was described by eyewitnesses as a huge canine-like animal with reddish body-colour, strong jaws, long tail and awful smell. In some testimonies the Beast is described with hooves instead of paws. Some even mention a smaller female individual which accompanied the monster without taking part to the attacks. Yet, the exactness of the testimonies can be debated due to oral tradition. ( With attacks being retold and probably magnified from one person to another.) The most reliable information about the Beast is found in investigation reports written by the local clerics and later by the king's soldiers and huntsmen.

It has been established that the Beast specifically targetted humans, even when they were cattle and animals around, though it sometimes attacked domestic animals. It was described as an exceptionally powerful animal able to jump over walls, and a relentless and intelligent hunter. It used to retreat for a while after having been driven away and wait for an opportunity to strike again until too many backup forced it too flee, or to avoid the places where too many people were tracking it down. It was even said to have gotten back up after being shot in more than one occasion, which started a rumour pretending that it was impervious to bullets.

The first attack reported happened in 1764, when the Beast tried to kill a woman guarding cattle, though the oxes managed to drive it away. A short while later it killed a fourteen-year-old girl, its first official victim. However, it must be noted that her death was attributed to "the feral beast" implying that there were other infortunate victims before her. As the number of attacks increased in spite of the hunters' best efforts, the newspapers began to relay its story all over Europe, eventually perking King Louis the XVth's interest.

The king personally rewarded a group of young men who managed to drive the Beast away, and later a woman who saved her child from it, and ordered all the soldiers residing in the province to take part in the chase. However, these chases were unsuccessful, mostly due to the very long and harsh winters of this province, and the fact that it was a land of mountains and forests with very few practicable roads. All these hindrances gave the Beast a notable field advantage over its pursuers. Thinking that the Beast was a divine punishment the country's clerics ordered much prayers and penitence, but to no avail.

In 1765 the king sent his best hunters one after the other to deal with the monster, while the Beast's story spread all over Europe. Yet, the king's hunters were not more wuccessful than the soldiers. On September 1765 François Antoine, the king's harquebus bearer and the third hunter dispatched by the court, killed a huge wolf which would later be known as the "Wolf of Chazes" and was recognized as the beast by some of its surviving victims.

Antoine had the wolf stuffed and brought to the royal court of Versailles, but after a few months of calm new attacks happened, and the Beast's return was established on January 1766. However, the king refused to believe it and the newspapers lost all interest in the case. As for the Beast, it appears to have grown wary of humans, being much more cautious in its attacks and operating in a smaller area.

The Beast's legend would ultimately end for good the 19 of June 1767 during another hunt led by the Marquis of Apcher, in which the local hunter Jean Chastel managed to wound the monster, which was finished off by the marquis' hounds. The legend states that Chastel was reading the Bible and praying before shooting the monster, which is said to have waited until his prayers was finished. It also states that the bullets that killed the monster were made from silver medals representing the Virgin Mary. Yet, this was an exaggeration made to glorify Chastel's feat. In fact, the Beast was famous for attacking on sight, or at least wait for its prey to drop their guard. What is sure is that since that day, no other attack was reported.

Many theories were made from the time of the Beast's killing spree to modern days, but as of today none of them can fully explain the case. Some suggest that they were not one beast but several ones of the same specy, which could explain how the Beast reappeared after being reportedly shot by François Antoine and how it could attack people a short while after having been seen in far away villages.


 * During the Beast's killing spree, many people spoke of a werewolf, a monster or another kind of supernatural being.
 * In a similar fashion, the local clergy spoke of a divine plague sent by God to punish the lack of faith of the French population. Some clerics allegedly blamed the Enlightenment and its increasing success among the elite. The latter being popular in fictional works based on these events.
 * There is a theory about a demented serial killer clad in animal furs and using weapons designed to look like a beast's claws and jaws. It might have been someone victim of a mental illness that made him act like a wolf. However, this is very unlikely given all the testimonies mentioning a great animal, far bigger than a human.
 * There is another theory about a human implication, stating that it could have been a huge beast bred in captivity and trained to kill, which was then disguised as a monster. The Beast's resistance to bullets could be explained by the fact that it was covered with boar skins or another type of animal-made armour. Popular theories mostly used in fictions speak of a conspiracy, often devised to create a seemingly divine plague and get rid of the aforementioned Enlightenment.
 * The Beast could have been the result of a cross breeding between a wolf and a huge dog.
 * Some scientists think of a survor of the Mesonychid, a long-extinct kind of huge, hooved wolf.
 * Other scientist think of an exotic beast, like a rare kind of asian hyena, which could have escaped from a circus or have been brought back by a noble who travelled to foreing countries and escaped.
 * And so on and so forth.