Visitors shell out for more than a day at the zoo, says new boss Elaine Bensted

PITY the poor pandas who have been falsely accused of sending Zoos South Australia broke, the new zoo boss says.

PITY the poor pandas who have been falsely accused of sending Zoos South Australia broke, the new zoo boss says.

"Those poor pandas get blamed an awful lot, they're put under an enormous amount of pressure," Elaine Bensted said yesterday, her first day on the job.

The former TAFE SA chief executive wants to educate the public on the not-for-profit organisation Zoos SA.

"I think a lot of people assume it's government-funded, government-run and somehow something went horribly wrong," she said.

"I also don't think there's a really good understanding of what the zoo delivers for South Australians. I think people, when they purchase a ticket, think they're coming for a day at the zoo."

Most of the ticket price, about 72 per cent, goes towards conservation, research, animal care and facilities.

Mrs Bensted plans to implement changes, which includes staff cuts and a review of annual expenditure that has more than doubled in six years.

While the panda enclosure is "absolutely world class", there have been many other expensive improvements, she said.