In a review where I examined how scary the werewolf movie The Cursed was, I mentioned that it partly drew its inspiration from the Beast of Gevaudan, a real-life man-eating creature. Which I guess pretty much answers the title question. Yes. The Beast of Gevaudan is real. Or was. It died centuries ago.
Okay, we’re done here. You can click away now. Unless you want to stick around and learn more about what the Beast of Gevaudan was and what happened to it. (Besides that it went on to inspire movies like The Cursed and Brotherhood of the Wolf, that is.)
The Beast of Gevaudan’s Reign of Terror
The area formerly known as Gevaudan in France no longer exists. In 1790, after the French Revolution, the area became the department of Lozère, which is located near the Massif Central in the Occitanie region of Southern France. But in 1764 something started stalking the people of Gevaudan.
The first recorded attack happened to Marie Jeanne Valet, who was alone tending cattle at the time. In fact, it appears it was thanks to her herd that she survived the attack from the beast she described as “like a wolf, yet not a wolf,” according to Wikipedia. They charged at the beast at least a couple of times, thwarting a potentially deadly assault on Valet.
However, the beast claimed its first victim shortly after, 14-year-old Jeanne Boulet. More attacks followed, which soon struck fear in everyone’s hearts.
The beast had a trademark modus operandi (MO): it primarily preyed on people —man, woman, or child. And like Marie Jeanne Valet, most of them were tending livestock by themselves at the time. It often tore out its victims’ throats. There were also reports that in some cases it partially ate some of the people too.
Record keeping being what is was back, no one really knows how many people fell victim to the Beast of Gevaudan and estimates vary widely. Some sources say there were as many as 610 attacks resulting in 500 fatalities. Others estimate the number of deaths between 60 and 100, with 30 injuries.
And, like it was back then, the jury is also out on whether just one beast was responsible for the attacks or more than one. That’s because there were so many attacks so quickly, some of which were reported happening “nearly simultaneously.” Also, some witnesses reported seeing the beast accompanied by a similar creature, perhaps a mate or its young.
What was the Beast of Gevaudan?
Descriptions of the beast varied, but most described it as a wolf-life creature. It was larger than a wolf though. Witnesses often compared it to the size of a calf, a cow, or even a horse. They also described an elongated head, “a flattened snout, pointed ears, and a wide mouth sitting atop a broad chest.”
They noted the tail was longer than a wolf’s and sported a “prominent tuft” at the tip. And the fur was tawny or russet but with a couple of distinguishing markings, including streaks of black on its back and “a white heart-shaped pattern” on its belly.
Wolves were a bit of an issue for folks living in the forests of western and central Europe at that time. But while they were a threat to livestock and occasionally posed a danger to people, none had ever ruthlessly hunted people as the Beast of Gevaudan did. It’s understandable why some believed more than a wolf was behind the attacks and that it must be some sort of supernatural creature.
Hunting parties were organized and many wolves were killed in the desperate attempt to stop the Beast of Gevaudan. However, they often learned their missions were unsuccessful when news of more attacks surfaced.
However, two “kills” in particular gave people hope. Like the one in 1765 when François Antoine killed a large wolf known as Le Loup de Chazes. People were especially hopeful when survivors positively identified it from markings they recognized seeing during their attacks.
But the peace from that kill didn’t last long. A couple of months later two boys were attacked, and after that more deaths followed.
It does appear that Jean Chastel successfully killed it during a hunt organized in 1767 by the Marquis d’Apchier, a local nobleman. They brought the beast’s body to d’Apchier’s castle, where it was stuffed. Upon removing its stomach, it is said they found the remains of the Beast of Gevaudan’s last victim. No more attacks were reported after that either.
But was the Beast of Gevaudan really a wolf?
Dr. Boulanger was the surgeon who stuffed the beast at the Marquis d’Apchier’s castle. A notary named Marin transcribed Dr. Boulanger’s post-mortem findings in what came to be known as the “Marin Report.”
The doctor noted that while the beast appeared to be a wolf, its proportions were much larger, abnormally so, and slightly different than wolves normally seen in the area.
This is why some have proposed alternative modern theories that maybe the wolf was anything from a lion to a Tasmanian tiger. Since people had never seen —much less heard— about any other kind of beasts, perhaps they mistook it for something more familiar.
Who knows? Maybe it wasn’t a wolf. Sadly, it was long before the days of photography so no photos exist. That might clarify everything. As it is, the Beast of Gevaudan’s legend has endured for centuries.
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What do you think the Beast of Gevaudan was?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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This is fascinating. A victim in that last beast’s stomach means it actually ate the human. What wolf would be bold enough to attack a human then eat it? Maybe it was a dire wolf. They were bigger, so maybe humans didn’t look so scary. And I suppose any carnivore would eat a dead human if hungry enough. It sounds frightening, whatever it was!
You know, one of the theories I hadn’t seen posed until you said it was dire wolf. I mean, maybe someone did. I haven’t deep-dove researched the story, but the description of the beast could also work for it! And I’m not sure the veracity of the story that they found human remains during the taxidermy. That’s what’s reported but could they have exaggerated or been untruthful? Who knows? BUT if it is true, that is frightening. The whole story is. Thanks so much for this comment!