Father Armand David ( September 27 , 1826 near Bayonne â `` November 10 , 1900 in Paris ) was a Lazarist missionary Catholic priest as well as a zoologist and a botanist . Father Armand David ( 27 September 1826 near Bayonne -- 10 November 1900 in Paris ) was a Lazarist missionary Catholic priest as well as a zoologist and a botanist .