Wolf of Chazes, shot by M. François Antoine de Beauterne, displayed at the court of Louis XV.In Gevaudan between May 1764 and June 1767, a huge wolf-like creature killed between 80 and 113 people and injured many more. La Bête du Gevaudan (the Beast of Gevaudan), as it became known, preyed almost entirely on women and children living in isolated cottages and hamlets, often as they tended animals or gathered crops in open fields.
Witnesses told how la Bête attacked suddenly, sometimes from above, usually in broad daylight. After the kill it would disappear into the dense patches of forest scattered across the granite plateaus and grass covered hills.
Eyewitnesses spoke of an animal with a sleek, dark body, strong athletic legs, a long slender tail and a huge head full of powerful teeth. Others recalled an animal with reddish brown fur and a stripe down its back. Some said La Bête remained silent when it attacked; others told of a terrible high pitched cry like a horse neighing. News of its exploits spread quickly, reaching even Louis XVI at Versailles, who commissioned hunters to kill the beast.
On September 21st, 1765 François Antoine, a professional wolf hunter, shot and killed a large creature near Chazes Abbey. To this day la Bête’s identity remains a mystery.
