Tiger quadruplets make their public debut in Hamburg

By Zamira Rahim and Nadine Schmidt, CNN

(CNN) -- Four young Siberian tiger cubs saw the outside world for the first time on Thursday at the Tierpark Hagenbeck zoo in Hamburg, Germany.

Since being born at the site on June 15 the quadruplet cubs -- two males and two females -- have been secluded indoors in their litter box.

They are the first cubs to be born at the zoo in 15 years.

Their mother, Maruschka, was born at the Novosibirsk zoo in Siberia in 2011 and met the cubs' father Yasha at the Hagenbeck.

On Thursday, Maruschka summoned the cubs out of the tiger house, according to a statement by the zoo given to CNN.

One cub emerged and was quickly followed by its three siblings. The cubs began to explore the site, stumbling over the grass and sniffing the water in the pond.

"After six weeks in the litter box, the small predators are certainly curious,'' Tobias Taraba, the Tierpark Hagenbeck's park keeper, told CNN.

In a few weeks the quadruplets will meet their father. The zoo is also asking the public to vote through social media to pick the cubs' names.

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