In the middle of the 18^th century―the Louis dynasty, the tragic incident inwhich more than 100 women and children were killed in 3 years , happened in Gevaudan（known as department of Lozère now）, southern France. The first incident was where a woman who lived in Langogne was attacked, while taking care of the cattle with her dog in July, 1764. A beast like a wolf attacked the woman, and she was injured. She was saved by her cattle scaring the beast. When she was attacked by the beast, the dog never attempted to protect her from it. The beast had a big mouth, bushy tail, and a longer face than a wolf. Also it had a long stripe pattern on its back. That was the beginning of the incident in which the mysterious beast―the “ Bete “, threatened people all over France for 3 years.

The “ Bete “ doesn’t mean a wolf( loup ) but an animal or a beast in French. Which means that the casualties or witnesses of the incident didn’t regard the beast as a wolf. The wolf-like beast assaulted only women or children one after another, and cast a dark shadow over France, causing growing social disorder. It was the time when the French Revolution would be seen breaking out 25 years later, and the Louis dynasty was declining. The public dissatisfaction against the privileged class and the religious crackdown had piled up by degrees. Louis XV had dispatched companies 3 times to kill the “ Bete “, making an effort against the public complaint. Captain Duhamel was sent to Gevaudan in November, 1764. Duhamel visited the place with the 55 dragoons. However the farmers in the district hated the dragoons, because the dragoons had forced convertion of the farmer’s religion, and they had to accommodate the dragoons at their houses, even though they were the needy. The Catholics called the Protestants, “ Huguenot “ scornfully. As Duhamel imposed the support of the hunting for the “ Bete “ on the farmers, they had to suspend their crop work. That’s why the farmers were not willing to help the army. At the end of the day, Duhamel was replaced by a successor with fruitless result. Captain Duhamel reported that the “ Bete “ was as large as a one-year-old bull, had a panther-like chest, and had bear-like foot with claws. Then, the ears were like a wolf, and the brownish body had a white abdomen, with a black stripe on its back.

Here are two episodes where the farmers succeeded in beating back the beast. The story was that a 12-year-old boy, Portefaix, fought against the “ Bete “ bravely to save his friends, on January 12^th, 1765. Portefaix beat off the beast, using a bayonet―a long stick with knife for self-defense, mainly used by farmers. On the other hand, a mother took back her child from the beast, when it tried taking away the child, on March 14^th. Although the mother was sickly, she struggled against the beast. And Captain d’Enneval who was a hunter as well as an aristocrat, sent to Gevaudan as a successor of Duhamel. Captain d’Enneval, who was a hunting specialist and had killed 1200 wolves in 40 years. The farmers expected him to kill the “ Bete “, however, after all, he was not able to capture the beast, but he captured many wolves in Gevaudan, though. While d’Enneval killed other wolves, the “ Bete “ continued to kill people as if it sneered at the humans. Most of the dead bodies were bit the viscera off, and some had their heads cut off. Basically, wolves never attack humans. However, it was natural that wolves eat a body of casualties in the battlefield, so people considered that the population of wolves would increase after big wars. In Japan, there were similar stories that wolves turned over a grave to eat a new body. The farmers in Gevaudan who had taken care of their livestock and seen wild wolves on a daily basis, agreed to that the “ Bete “ was not a wolf. Then, what was the “ Bete “ ? Was the beast a mastiff, a hyaena, a bear, or a monkey-hybrid tiger? These hypotheses are all doubtful. Captain d’Enneval, who chased the beast as a wolf-hunter, said, “ the Bete is not a wolf but some other thing “. Some people believed that the “ Bete “ was a man, because some bodies were covered with their clothes, or some people saw the beast speaking and standing at the front of the farmer’s house.

The third hunter, sent by the King, was Antoine de Beauterne, who was a hunting attendant for King Louis XV. Beauterne hunted for the “ Bete “ with his shooters into the forest or mountain, as other predecessors did. However, the farmer’s expectations began fade out, because he was hunting for the beast in glittering costume on the horse, as if he was accompaning the hunt of the King. Since the slaughter by the beast continued, the number of the victims was increasing. As Beauterne was not able to bring any result for 3 months after he arrived at his post, he came up with a certain plot. On September 21^st, 1765, at long last, he declared that he shot down a large wolf, nobody had seen. Beauterne explained that he killed the wolf in the wood of Saint-Marie-des-Chazes. The large wolf, shot in the wood, was described weighing 65 kg, 86 cm high, and 1.7 m long. Beauterne concluded the wolf must have been the “ Bete “. Incidentally, general timber wolf is weighing 20-80kg, 68-97 cm high, and 1.6 m long. The killed wolf was sent to the Versailles Palace in Paris, and then, Captain Beauterne got the bounty. Surely the rampage of the “ Bete “ was suspended for a short while after the wolf was killed. On the other hand, it was true that many people suspected the victory.

After Beauterne left, a boy was attacked by the “ Bete “, in September. The boy survived and told that the beast had a stripe pattern on its back, a long hairy tail, flat face, thick neck, and black-brown-point flanks.. Although effort to the slaughter the beast resumed, these incidents were suddenly terminated, on the 19^th of June, 1767. Jean Chastel, who was a hunter as well as owner of the pub, reportedly shot down the “ Bete “. Mysterious Chastel cooperated with the farmers for killing the beast, after a girl, Marie Danty, had been killed. It was said that when he was reading a bible in the wood―the Velay district, the “ Bete “ suddenly appeared in front of him. And then, he shot the beast using a sanctified bullet. The beast was a brownish-red male wolf, whose weight was 54.5 kg. It seems that the wolf was also sent to Paris. The story of Chastel resembled Beauterne’s closely. Anyway the beast of Gevaudan vanished forever.

What was the “ Bete “ ? Was it a wolf, other beast, human, or punishment of God? That is just presumption. The NHK program “ The mystery of Gevaudan “ concluded the beast was a wolf / mastiff hybrid, referring to the old data which was the sketch of the beast’s skull. And the Hollywood movie “ Le pacte des loups ( The pact of wolves )” described the beast as a lion-like beast. Now there is a zoo breeding wolves in Gevaudan(now called Lozère), which suffered from attacks by the “ Bete “. It was said that wild wolves were terminated in France. However, around 10 years ago, a wolf showed up in France. It seems that the wolf moved from nearby a country to France, however, it was shot by someone. For the people of Medieval Europe, especially farmers or ranchers, wolves were considered hateful animals compared with Japan, because of attacking their livestock. And the “ Bete “ had belonged to the most peculiar case in French history. Could we have new documents or data on the beast, and solve the mystery? I will keep an eye on that.

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