When the Beast of Gévaudan Terrorized France The tale of this monster grew in the telling, but the carnage still left nearly 100 dead. Lorraine Boissoneault. June 26, 2017. Get our newsletter!

Extravagant Hunts & Media Warfare. Jean-Baptiste Duhamel, a dragoon captain stationed near Gévaudan, mustered up a force of 20,000 plus citizens to search for the beast, with no success.