Three Sumatran tiger cubs at the Smithsonian's National Zoo need names and the zoo is asking the public to decide what they should be.

Now through Aug. 21, visitors to the zoo’s Web site and the Web site of Friends of the National Zoo (www.fonz.org/tigercubs.htm) can help pick the names of three cubs born from 13-year-old tigress Soyono.

As a compromise between having the names chosen entirely by the public or by the cubs’ caretakers, zoo personnel narrowed the choices down to a list from which the public could choose.

The cubs, one male and two females born May 24, were the third litter for Soyono.

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Sumatran tigers number fewer than 500 in the tropical forests of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Only six litters of the endangered species have been born at the National Zoo.

While the 2-month-old cubs weigh between 13 and 16 pounds now, as adults the male will reach about 265 pounds while his sisters will each weigh about 200 pounds.

As of Friday, 270 votes were submitted placing Guntur, Maharani and Ndari at the top of the list.