The Beast of Gévaudan (French: Bête du Gévaudan) was a creature that terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan, in today's Lozère département, in the Margeride Mountains in south-central France, in the general timeframe of 1764 to 1767. The kingdom of France was organized into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. ... Lozère is a département in southeast France near the Massif Central. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Beast of Gévaudan

The first attack that provided a description of the creature took place in June of 1764. A girl from Langogne was working a farm in the Forêt de Mercoire when she saw a large, wolflike animal charge from the trees in a straight line toward her. The farm's dogs retreated as the beast drew closer, until the bulls from the farm's herd of cattle menaced the creature enough to drive it back into the forest. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Binomial name Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 The Wolf or Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) is a mammal of the Canidae family and the ancestor of the domestic dog. ...

For the next three years attacks by the same beast occurred. It was described as being a wolflike creature the size of a cow with a wide chest, a long sinuous tail with a lionlike tuft of fur on the end, and a greyhoundlike head with large, protruding fangs. It was also noted making huge leaps approaching thirty feet. The attacks prompted Antoine de Beauterne, chief huntsman of King Louis XV, to visit the area, where he spent the next three years hunting wolves, believing them to be the real beast. The wolf killings lasted as long as the creature's attacks, over the general span of three years, and saw no affect on reports of the beast or its killing. Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Binomial name Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The Lion (Panthera leo) is a mammal of the family Felidae. ... This article is about the breed of dog; for other meanings of Greyhound, see Greyhound (disambiguation). ... Louis XV King of France and Navarre Louis XV (February 15, 1710 - May 10, 1774), called the Well-Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé), was king of France from 1715 to 1774. ...

Of note is the fact that the creature had a strange method of killing, often ignoring the usual areas targeted by predators (legs and throat to incapacitate and kill, respectively) and going for the head, crushing it before feeding. It also seemed to have a taste for humans, as even when cattle and other farm animals were more easily attainable it often passed them completely to attack the person tending them. There were differing reports on the beast itself, which was sometimes reportedly seen with a man and was several times reported to be with another beast, and with young.

Various explanations were offered at the time of the attacks. They ranged from exaggerated accounts of wolf attacks, to a loup-garou (werewolf), all the way to the beast being a punishment from God, to being an unholy creature summoned by a sorcerer. Current opinions offer up the interesting theory that the attacks were actually a serial killer, or group of serial killers, using wolf attacks to cover their own murders. Despite the presence of Antoine de Beauterne, the killing of the creature that marked the end of the attacks is credited to a hermit, Jean Chastel, at the Sogne d'Aubert. A werewolf in folklore and mythology is a person who changes into a wolf, either by purposefully using magic or by being placed under a curse. ... Serial killers are individuals who have a history of multiple slayings of victims who were usually unknown to them beforehand. ...

The legend surrounding the attacks spawned a movie starring Mark Dacascos, 'Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf)' released in 2001, which while based on the records of the creature also took the usual liberties to turn it into an entertaining story. Despite generating positive reviews and record business (the movie that is credited with being the highest-grossing French), it is not an accurate account of the occurrences in Gévaudan. Mark Dacascos is an actor and martial arts expert. ... Categories: Movie stubs | 2001 films | French films ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A more accurate version of the historic events was shown in the TV-film "La bête du Gévaudan", France 2003, first aired by the station ARTE in 2005, directed by Patrick Volson with Sagamore Stévenin (Pierre Rampal), Léa Bosco (Françounette), Jean-François Stévenin (Jean Chastel), Guillaume Gallienne (Abbé Pourcher), Vincent Winterhalter (Comte de Morangie) and Louise Szpindel (Judith). 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

Some suspect that the Beast may have been a wolf (there were many in France then), a dire wolf (a slightly larger extinct wolf species), a lion (has the same tail), or a hyena. Binomial name Canis dirus Leidy, 1858 The Dire Wolf (Canis dirus) is an extinct member of the genus Canis (which contains the wolves, Coyote, jackals, and the Domestic Dog), and was most common in North America during the Pleistocene. ...