WASHINGTON (Reuters) - So little in Washington is black and white that all it takes is a tiny panda cub to captivate the entire U.S. capital.

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.

Although he is already famous thanks to the zoo's online "panda cams," the little bear won't formally meet his public until early next month.

Demand for tickets has been feverish, with the initial batch of 13,000 snapped up within two hours from an overwhelmed Web site.