The media (or more accurately, the local public due to real fear caused by numerous killings) may have further exaggerated on what was happening in former province of Gévaudan, but there was definitely something unusual (i'm not saying paranormal, just unusual, as in outside of average) going on there, just from the number of recorded deaths by supposed animal attacks. We'll probably never know what happened exactly or how much was public hysteria, and how many extra deaths were either by some atypical animal behavior, or a human killer taking advantage of superstition to kill other human beings, essentially, as a serial killer.
Could have easily been some kind of maneater. The human-predation behavior of the Tsavo lions or the Sankebetsu/Tomamae brown bear are not at all common, but are know. The tsavo lions were also not taken seriously at first, because lions being motivated to make constant audacious attacks on humans is so wildly out of the norm.
