In France's mountainous regions, over a hundred people died within three years. The hunters sent by the king killed one wolf after another, yet people were still being bitten to death.

On June 30, 1764, in the Gévaudan mountain region of southern France, a teenage girl named Jeanne Boulet was bitten to death by a wild beast while tending sheep. She was the first recorded victim according to official records. Villagers said the creature resembled a wolf, yet was not a wolf; it was far larger than a wolf, with a black stripe on its back and a very long muzzle.

In the following months, such incidents became increasingly frequent. Most of the victims were women and children, who were attacked while herding cattle or sheep alone on the hillsides; many had their necks bitten through. A few children survived and said the creature ran extremely fast, could leap several meters in a single pounce, could be driven back by spears, and would turn around to pursue again.

The news reached Paris, and King Louis XV issued an order, sending regular army dragoons up the mountain, followed by professional wolf hunters. In 1765, the king's hunter, Antoine de Beauterne, killed an exceptionally large wolf in the mountains, had it stuffed as a specimen, and sent it to the Palace of Versailles for the king to see. Beauterne claimed the beast was dead. But a few months later, someone else in the mountains was bitten to death.

In June 1767, a local hunter named Jean Chastel killed another beast in the Mont Mouchet area. It is said he fired the shot after finishing mass, using a bullet deliberately cast from melted silver. After this, the attacks in the mountains ceased.

During these three years, the number of people bitten to death by the beast is generally said to be around one hundred; various sources give different figures—some say over one hundred, others say more than two hundred. Later, some claimed it was a giant wolf, some said several wolves, some said a wolf-dog hybrid, some said it was a ferocious beast released by humans, and others even suggested a murderer wearing an animal skin.

To this day, none of these theories has been universally accepted. The Gévaudan mountain region still attracts many visitors every year; a giant statue of the beast stands by the roadside, which locals call the "Beast of Gévaudan."}

#Paranormal #网络转载 #怪兽