Giant Wolf: Could France's Legendary Beast of Gevaudan Just be a Dire Wolf?

A giant wolf believed by many once terrorized 18th century France and was blamed for several gruesome deaths in the county of Gevaudan.

The predator went on a killing rampage in the said rural territory.

The threat was too great it even caught the attention of the French monarchy at that time under the rulership of King Louis XV, who sent out hunters to kill the unknown creature in what will be known in history as the Beast of Gevaudan.

For years, scientists have confirmed the existence of giant wolves called "dire wolves," as portrayed in "Game of Thrones" used by the protagonist Stark family as their pets and guardians.

In relation to the Beast of Gevaudan, various inquiries have pointed if it was just a dire wolf.

However, the ancient animals went into extinction approximately between 10,000 to 13,000 years ago, according to various sources.

With fossils dating back as old as 250,000 years ago, dire wolves once reportedly roamed the Americas and feasted on large prey like bison and now-extinct animals like Ice Age horses and ground sloths.

Still, the disappearance of the giant wolves remains a mystery to scientists, who contest if their annihilation is linked to changes in the climate and environment or caused by humans and other animal competitors.

Beast of Gevaudan

(Photo : Image by Madeleine Lewander from Pixabay)

It was the early summer of 1764 when the Beast of Gevaudan carried out its "first recorded attack" in France, wherein its first victim was a 14-year-old girl named Jeanne Boulet who was watching her sheep.

Her death was followed by harrowing incidents involving mostly women and children, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.

Although wild animal attacks of today devastating from its own nature, the Gevaudan attacks involved mutilated victims with their throats or heads severed, the magazine reported.

In terms of death toll, multiple sources estimate it to be 100. Yet, some approximate it to be almost 300 fatalities.

Accounts about the Beast of Gevaudan was one of the first international news stories, captured by the Courrier in Avignon and reached the newspapers of Paris.

Since then, it spread abroad, according to the Public Domain Review. In 2001, a movie about the Gevaudan creature entitled "Brotherhood of the Wolf" was made.

Also Read: Red Wolves are Going Extinct and Chances of Recovery are Extremely Low

Extinct Dire Wolves

The extinction of the dire wolves has been a subject of debates even until today.

Still, new research potentially sheds light on the mystery behind their disappearance.

Based on several studies, scientists believe that the megafauna in which the giant wolves rely on started dying due to climate change.

The prehistoric wolves then had trouble completing with the much smaller gray wolf when it comes to catching smaller prey amid co-existing for thousands of years, according to the National Park Service.

It is for this reason why the dire wolves died out at the end of the last Ice Age.