Twin red panda cubs have emerged from their nesting den to delight visitors at Canberra's zoo.

The male and female cubs were born in December but have been tucked away with their mum Eilish in their nesting box at the National Zoo and Aquarium.

"When they're born they're quite underdeveloped so they spend a lot of time in their nest box with their mum attending to them," wildlife supervisor Bec Scott said.

"Over the months they grow and get more confident and here they are at four months old where they are starting to venture outside their nest box and looking at the world and starting to experience what their mum goes out to see every day."

Already the female cub is proving to be more adventurous than her brother.

"The female is quite confident, spending a lot of time with her mum out exploring the enclosure going to wherever she goes," Ms Scott said.

Sorry, this video has expired Red panda cubs make public debut in Canberra

"Whereas the little boy, he's a little bit more hesitant, he's quite shy and a little more cautious. He likes to take things a little more slowly than his sister."

The cubs are part of an Australasian captive breeding program for red pandas.

The acrobatic tree dwellers are native to the forests of India, Nepal, Laos, Myanmar, Bhutan and south-west China.

Their Chinese name is Hun-Ho, which means fire fox.

But there are fewer than 10,000 red pandas recorded in the wild.

International conservation authorities have classified the species as vulnerable, and their numbers are dropping due to pressure from habitat destruction, land clearing and poaching.

It is the third time cubs have been successfully bred at the zoo.

"Eilish had a son a couple of years ago and Eilish herself was born at the zoo prior to that with a twin sister as well," Ms Scott said.

She says the new cubs will play an important part in the breeding program.

"As they start to get older, when they become sexually mature, it's quite possible that they'll head off to other zoos for their own breeding programs," she said.

The zoo is running an online poll to help decide on names for the cubs over the Mother's Day weekend.