Most of what is known about la Bete comes to us from Abbe Pierre Pourcher, a French priest who wrote extensively about the killings. His Histoire de la Bete du Gevaudan has recently been translated into English.
At the time, until she was caught, people were not exactly sure what type of animal la Bete really was. Some of the candidates could have been:
- Wolf - although experts who hunted la Bete, and people who survived her attacks, said she was not a wolf.
- Nandi Bear from Africa - a beast known for its "rapid head removal." (See Bernard Heuvelmans' On the Track of Unknown Animals, at pages 445-491.)
- Wendigo - famous, mythical and dangerous Canadian beast whose legends originate with the Algonquin Indians.
- El Chupacabras - drawings made by people who saw this animal (which killed 150 goats in the Canavoras region of Puerto Rico) are similar to
drawings of La Bete.
King Louis XV was so concerned about La Bete that, in the summer of 1765, he sent his chief
Arquebusier, Antoine de Bauterne, to kill it. He offered Bauterne a huge reward if he succeeded.