The Beast of Gevaudan: A True Tale Made for Halloween

On June 1, 1764 a young woman was tending cattle when a large lupine beast exited the forest and tried to attack her. Her cattle dogs dashed away in terror but the bulls chased the animal away with their horns. This the first reported sighting of the creature that came to be known as the Beast of Gevaudan. She was fortunate… most were not.On June 30, Jeanne Boulet became the first official victim, killed near the village of Les Hubaes.

Between 1764 and 1767 in the former Province of Gevaudan, a plush mountain region of south-central France, many women and children (as well as a few men) were slaughtered by a wolf-like animal that was described as being as large as a small cow, covered with reddish fur, having a large head, short pointed ears, a broad chest, a long thick tail and gaping jaws. It also reportedly could walk upright if it needed to (once, when it was crossing a river it extended itself onto its hind legs and waded across like a human).

Over its three year reign of terror the creature is estimated to have attacked over 200 people-most while watching herds of cattle or flocks of sheep- killing a reported 113, most of which were decapitated, eviscerated, and at least partly eaten.  Some young women were also reported to have been sexually assaulted (although most people doubt this claim).

In Febuary, 1765 King Louis XV directed professional wolf hunters to kill the beast. They spent several months slaughtering wolves but the attacks continued. By this time the villagers were terrified to even leave their homes as they believed a loup-garou (werewolf) was among them because the beast, it appeared, seemed to crave human flesh more than the live stock it was surrounded by.

Legend has it that on June 19, 1767 a local hunter, Jean Chastel killed the beast with a silver bullet of his own making; believing that he was dealing with a loup-garou he had crafted the bullets accordingly. When the animal was gutted it reportedly had human remains in its stomach. On the way to Versailles-to show the king and reap a sizable reward- the body of the creature began to decay and was buried somewhere in the country-side.

In 2009 the history channel produced a documentary entitled “The Real Wolfman”. In it a cryptozooligist and a police investigator teamed up to try and solve the mystery. They came to the mutual conclusion that the animal was probably a Hyena and was possibly trained to kill by a human, most likely the killer of the beast Jean Chastel himself.