The 'First' Giant Panda And How It Ended Up In Paris

image credit: J. Patrick Fischer

The discovery of the giant panda took place less than 150 years ago, when a French Catholic priest got his hands on 'a most excellent black and white bear.'

The first westerner to clap eyes on a giant panda is thought to have been a French priest and naturalist known as Armand David. He'd been posted to China in 1862 to spread the Christian word, but was a keen naturalist too and went on several collecting trips over the course of his stay, sending specimens back to the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris.