This was one of those historical mysteries that still flummoxes people today. For those not in the know, the Beast was an animal or animals that went on a multi-year rampage in south-central France from 1764-1767. It, or they, racked up quite a body count, and seemed to preferentially target women and children. Eventually, the animals were killed, and the deaths stopped. So, what exactly was this critter, or critters? Here are some of the ideas that have been presented over the years.
A lion-not super plausible in my opinion. The attack patterns did not match up well to a lion, or any big cat, for that matter. Descriptions of the Beast varied considerably, but nearly all agreed that the Beast was canine in appearance.
A hyaena-this one’s a little more believable, but still would not be my pick. While looking superficially canine, hyaenas are actually closer to cats in the tree of life. They also don’t act as the Beast did. Now, did some goofballs keep these things as pets back in the day? Supposedly yes. Do pets sometimes escape? Sure, but it still isn’t a great match in terms of behavior or looks.
Wolf-now we are getting warmer. A big wolf, or wolf pack, is more than capable of doing the damage described in the historical record. Here’s the issue…wolves weill usually avoid people. Unprovoked, hunting style attacks on humans are super rare, yet that seems to be exactly what the Beast was doing.
Wolf dog-ding ding! I think we have a winner! Here’s why.
A wolf dog has the potential to combine the worst traits of the parents. You have the size and power of a wolf, and a lack of fear of humans from the dog. This is a really, REALLY bad combo. I have been around wolf dogs, several of which would be considered ‘high content,’ meaning more wolf in them than dog. Can they be fantastically loyal and protective? Most definitely. Do they have the potential to be extremely dangerous? Also yes. There’s a reason these animals are illegal to own in a lot of places.
The second bit of evidence is this. These animals looked wolf-like, but different enough for people to notice that they didn’t look like complete wolves. Descriptions from the time include shorter muzzles, brindled fur, unusual tails, and extra toes. Now, for me, the extra toes is the giveaway. A lot of the bigger herding breeds such as Great Pyrenees have the polydactyl trait pop up in their bloodlines, meaning, they have extra toes. It’s not super visible from a distance, but up close, a polydactyl paw looks very different from a normal paw.
Here’s what I think happened. One or more of these large livestock guarding dogs managed to mate with some of the local wolves. Given the range and supposed number of animals, as well as their varied appearance, I would have a hard time believing that there was just one breeding event. There may well have been several over a period of a year or so before the Beasts started attacking people. If one has ever been up close to some of these bigger breeds, they can easily top one hundred pounds, and they tend to be blocky and muscular. They can also be very aggressive when defending livestock, a trait which they may have translated to their hybrid offspring.
Here’s the other piece of the puzzle. Though wolf dogs tend to be more aggressive than their parent counterparts, the sheer number of attacks makes me think something else was going on. As a former veterinary technician/student, I am thinking there was some disease outbreak around the time the attacks started. My background has me looking very closely at rabies. Rabies was, and still is, an ugly disease. There’s no cure, and it is fatal. Even the prevention is no joke (I had the rabies vaccine in veterinary school, and it’s a rough, three course series of shots). Rabies causes extreme behavior changes, one of which is heightened aggression in the ‘raging’ form, which is what is more likely to present in dogs. The ‘dumb’ form is more likely to present in livestock. The animal becomes insensitive and unresponsive, and will just stand and stare blankly. I’ve seen both forms in a veterinary setting, and I still couldn’t tell you which one is worse.
So, there’s my hypothesis. The Beast(s) of Gevaudan were wolf-dog hybrids, possibly high content wolf-dogs, and were met with the perfect storm of an outbreak of rabies. That would explain the variety of canine appearances and odd behaviors. I would LOVE to see the remains of the last one that was shot. According to some records, the carcass was buried somewhere on the Versailles palace grounds. A look at the mouth and tooth structure would tell me what I need to know.
Hilary
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