Today, the cubs weigh 3 to 4 pounds, and with their thick coats, look to be the size of Yorkshire terrier puppies. They get three bottles of formula each day and are nibbling on bamboo en route to eating solid foods, Norsworthy said.

The zoo closes for the season on Sunday. When it reopens in the spring, Willa will join her parents in the red panda exhibit. Carson may be on display briefly, but is bound for the zoo in Billings, Montana, where he'll become part of the breeding program to repopulate the endangered species.

Two hundred red pandas live in captivity in North America, said Children's Zoo Executive Director John Chapo.

“These red pandas are very important,” he said, adding that the Lincoln zoo has been a big player in the species' survival plan, successfully breeding and raising eight red panda cubs over the past 14 years.

Tuesday morning, 15 families with special tickets were on hand for the naming announcement, which included this year’s only red panda meet-and-greet.

Among them were the Stewarts, who knew Willa and Carson were among finalists but didn't know they'd been picked as the names.