Panda cub Tai Shan Woes Media

Giant panda cub Tai Shan bites a piece of straw in his exhibit at the National Zoo in Washington November 29, 2005. (Jason Reed/Reuters)

Tai Shan, the 21-pound (9.5-kg) baby panda born in July at the U.S. National Zoo, took his first bow before the media on Tuesday, reducing one of the hardest-bitten press corps in the world to cooing and incoherent babble.

Tai Shan, whose name means "peaceful mountain," is top of the chart for growth. Zoo officials say he is becoming more assertive by the day, squealing and barking when he is picked up and chasing his keepers around his indoor enclosure.

Su Lin, a girl panda born this year in the San Diego zoo, was the rare product of natural mating in captivity.

Mei Xiang will be ready to breed again in a couple of years and the Washington-based zoo plans to try to mate her with Tian Tian again in 2007.

The couple is on a 10-year loan from China and any babies it produces belong to Beijing. Tai Shan is due to return to his ancestral land when he is two years old.