Poking their noses warily around the corner, they hesitated for a moment. What was this strange new place?

And no wonder they were wary, because for these Sumatran tiger cubs, this was their first taste of the outside world.

Since their birth two months earlier, they had been cooped up inside because of the cold.

Braving the new world: Four Sumatran tiger cubs make their first appearance at Paignton Zoo in Devon

The youngsters - two male, two female - huddled together to get used to the bright spring sunshine.

However, their curiosity soon got the better of them, and they slinked outside at Paignton Zoo in Devon to join their mother Banda.

Each cub has a unique pattern of stripes, which should help their keepers to tell them apart.

The zoo will asking the public to help name them by choosing from a shortlist on its website.

Zoo worker Neil Bemment said: 'At eight weeks the cubs are quite mobile and inquisitive but they still sleep a lot during the day. They are so gorgeous and healthy.'

Take that! One of the cubs play fights with its proud mother 'Banda'

The two male cubs are now eight kilos and seven kilos and the females seven kilos and six kilos.

They are the result of a breeding programme at the zoo, which is a member of the European Endangered species Programme for Sumatran tigers, part of the global effort to save the species from extinction.

There are thought to be just 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, mainly on the Indonesian island which gave them their name.

Female Sumatran tigers give birth to between two and four cubs after about 103 days and they typically weigh around 1 kilo (2lbs).

The cubs live on mother's milk for six to eight weeks before moving on to meat. Cubs are dependent on their mother for about a year-and-a-half.

They put on weight at a rate of about 100 grams per day and are born blind but their eyes open at around three weeks.