Why I think the Beast(s) of Gevaudan was most likely a domestic dog or wolfdog mix
While there are a ton of possible suspects for the Beast of Gevaudan - wolves, exotic big cats, and human serial killers all being considered the likeliest - I think another interesting possibility is that at least some of the Beast killings being delivered at the hands (paws?) of a domestic dog, or otherwise a wolfdog. In Beast: Werewolves, Serial Killers, and Maneaters (Romero & Schwalb), the authors make a pretty compelling case for a wolfdog or even an outright domestic dog being behind some, if not most or even all, of the attacks. Their/my arguments are listed below:
First off, wolves almost never attack humans, but domestic dogs do all the time. In fact, 20-30,000+ people are killed every year by domestic dogs, altho this is mostly due to rabies. And furthermore, dogs can and have been bred to act as guardians to attack and even injure other humans.
Secondly, most, if not all, of the Beast’s strange traits, while they can’t really be explained by wolves, can easily be ascribed to a domestic dog or dogs. Rhodesian ridgebacks have enormous, thick, barrel-shaped chests, russet-brown fur, and even the line or “ridge” down the back. Sighthounds, especially borzois, Afghans, and Irish wolfhounds, have looong whiplike tails, much longer and more distinct than that of a wolf (“whiplike” might have been a mistranslation btw, and might have meant the erratic lashing movements of the Beast’s tail rather than the tail itself being long and whiplike). Mastiffs are infamous for having enormous drooling maws. and so on and so forth.
Dogs being able to interbreed and produce hugely-variable mutt offspring lends credence to this theory, as if the right parents are bred, you can get some pretty big (and quite frightening-looking) dogs. And it’s important to note that perception greatly alters our view of these animals. All the pictured dogs are good boys through and through, but being mistreated or even bred and bent to a sick-minded individuals will can turn the best boys into killing machines. While we see the above dogs as big flonkers, a frightened and cold French countrywoman alone in the fields would see one of these charging at her and not think it was anything less than a nightmare.
These are only some of the arguments, I definitely recommend reading the above book for more info, it’s very good. It definitely sold me that at least some of the attacks were committed by either a domestic dog or dogs or a wolfdog, with no small amount of paranoia and exaggeration playing a part too.
Dogs pictured:
1: wolfdog
2: Alaskan malamute
3: Great Dane
4: Irish wolfhound
5-6: Caucasian shepherd
7: English mastiff
8: Leonberger
9-10: German shepherd-great Pyrenees mix (saw one in person, it was huge, big drooling mouth, and long lashing tail. Practically the spitting image of the Beast).
Important caveat: while I’m not saying that any of the above breeds in particular were the culprit(s), they’re just there to illustrate that domestic dogs can be huge and often quite frightening and strange-looking.