Tiger cubs prep for public

How do you prepare three tiny tiger cubs for a horde of noisy humans?

First, keepers at the Philadelphia Zoo opened a door to a small corner of the outside world. They approached, then froze, and finally, tentatively, joined their mother outside.

Next, keepers babyproofed the rest of the exhibit, draining a small pool and stream. Kira, their mom, patrolled the perimeter as her cubs explored.

Finally, the zoo started bringing in volunteers and donors, partly for a sneak peak, partly a way to acclimate the cubs to people.

On Thursday around noon, the zoo will find out for sure whether the three-month old Amur tigers, a highly endangered species, are brave little guys — or scaredey-cats.

That’s when the general public can visit for the first time. And who will the public be meeting?

Terney (pronounced

) is named for a town of eastern Russia that was the base of operations for a tiger conservation project.

Koosaka (

) means “biter” in Russian, according to the zoo’s Ukrainian plumber, who joined in the naming process.

Changbai (

) is named for a tiger reserve in northern China that tigers have started to repopulate.

Zookeepers tell them apart by the marks over their left eyes. Terney has a sideways “v.” Koosaka’s brow mark looks like a “K,” and Changbai’s a capital “L.”