David, Armand (1826–1900)

French naturalist and Lazarist missionary who discovered a new species of deer 1865, now known as Père David's deer, Elaphurus davidianus.

David was born in Espelette, France. As a child he developed a keen interest in both natural sciences and religion, and later became a missionary in China. He discovered the deer in a game park near Beijing belonging to the Emperor. They were classified by Henri Milne-Edwards 1866 and several of them were brought to Europe. In 1895 a flood destroyed the majority of the Chinese herd, and the rest were killed during the Boxer Rebellion 1900. The deer in European zoos were the only surviving specimens.