Kids Pick ‘Nacho,’ ‘YoYo’ for O.C. Bears

Nacho and YoYo are the names of the two black bears who succeeded the late Samson at the Orange County Zoo earlier this summer.

The competition to name the bears drew about 3,000 letters and e-mails from children 12 and under. Among entries rejected by zoo officials were Ricky and Lucy, and Chips and Salsa.

Megan Lloyd, 3, of Irvine suggested Nacho for the zoo’s 350-pound male bear, and Mikayla Selepec, 6, of Orange recommended YoYo for the 120-pound female. Each girl will get to be honorary zookeeper for a day.

Zoo director Forrest de Spain said of the bears, “I think the names match their personalities well. Both of them are very lighthearted and gregarious. . . .”

Samson, a 500-pound American black bear, became a celebrity in 1994 when he was videotaped lounging in a hot tub in Monrovia. He was captured and moved to the zoo in Orange, where he died in May of old age.

The state Department of Fish and Game donated the new bears.