The Wolf of Sarlat

The Wolf of Sarlat attacked and wounded seventeen people in Sarlat, France, in June 1766. Unlike other wolves that had become man-eaters, it was notable in that it attacked only grown men, standing on its hind legs to get at the face and neck.

A burgher of Saint-Julien, Monsieur Dubex de Descamps, gathered a hunting party of one-hundred men and set out after the animal. In the pursuit the wolf turned on the hunters, injuring two of them. Dubex trapped the wolf in a meadow, dismounted, and shot it at point-blank range as it charged him. The wolf was roughly thirty inches at the withers and four feet, four inches in length. The huntsmen noted that its appearance combined some physical characteristics typical of foxes and greyhounds, suggesting hybridization.