Animal
X - Natural Mystery Unit
Episode 2 Monster or Murderer - The Beast of Gevaudan
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Daniel and Natelie travel to France. They visit the Gevaudan region (today Auvergne)
- once the killing ground of the most mysterious historical
monster: The Beast of Gevaudan.
Countless
theories hang over the mystery of the Beast's identity.
To uncover the truth Dan and Nat talk to local historians,
researchers and descendants of the Beast's victims.
At the
National Museum of Natural
History in Paris the AXNMU investigates whether the
Beast could have been an exotic animal, imported from a
far away country.
At the
Amneville Zoo,
Dan and Nat chat to author Michel Louis who explains why
he thinks it was a crossbreed.
Could
they solve the mystery that has puzzled generations?
WHAT
WAS THE BEAST OF GEVAUDAN?
The story behind
La Bête du Gévaudan or THE BEAST OF GEVAUDAN is a grisly
and murderous one. The Beast was a wolf-like creature said to have
prowled the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France during the
years 1764 to 1767. It was said to be responsible for as many as
300 human deaths, often in bizarre and grusome circumstances.
Every effort to stop the Beast failed and it became infamous throughout France.
Even the King - Louis XV - took a personal interest, partly because
the Beast was causing unrest in an area of tension and potential
revolution.
But what exactly was the Beast? Over the the last two centuries there have been many theories
a mutant,
a prehistoric beast, a wolf, a hyena, across-breed?
The only thing we can be sure of, this is more than
just a myth - the Beast of Gevaudan left around 300 bodies in its wake.
Animal
X - Natural Mystery Unit
