At seven weeks, Auckland Zoo's new lion cubs line up for their first photo opportunity.
Keepers say the cubs are "very active and very vocal", and will soon be big enough to leave their den and venture outside.
They don't have names, but that will be remedied today when theresults of a children's competition are announced.
The birth of the cubs boosts the population of the zoo's lion enclosure to 11, including another pair of cubs, Zulu and Zalika, who were born in March to 3-year-old Amira.
Her mother, 5-year-old Kura, gave birth to the latest additions.
Their paternity is uncertain. Two South African-born males, Lazarus and Ngala, arrived at the zoo last May, and either could be the father of each set of cubs.
Zoo spokesman Michael Batty said lions were the most social cats.
"These six cubs are going to have a lot of fun growing up together."
Introducing them to the rest of the zoo's lion family, which also includes another adult female, Sheeka, would be a gradual process.
But Auckland will not be a permanent abode for the cubs. Once they are big enough to leave home, they and Zulu and Zalika will go to other zoos in New Zealand and Australia.
