STAFF at Dudley Zoo are brushing up their language skills for a trip to the Czech Republic.

Education presenter Caroline Parsons and primate keeper Kirsty Thornton have recently returned from the first visit to Zoo Dvur Kralove to recall tales before another four pairs get set to jet off.

The Czech visits were organised as part of an ideas-swapping venture as the Castle Hill zoo looks for examples of good practice to bring back and try out over here.

Funded by the European Leonardo da Vinci education exchange scheme, the initiative includes looking at how the Czech zoo is run and how it trains its staff.

Caroline and Kirsty, who were the first two to take part in the scheme, said the trip was a fascinating insight into the differences and similarities between the two zoos.

Kirsty said: “It was a really interesting experience. Some things, like the way the animals were looked after, were pretty much the same but there were differences like the staff not wearing uniforms and visitors being fined if they fed the animals.

“The zoo is also in the process of building a camp of safari lodges so people can stay there on holiday.”

Caroline said: “They had a really good range of animals and have bred a lot which have been reintroduced into the wild in Africa.

“The zoo also gets a lot of government grants and they have a taxidermist on site so they have skins of every species they keep, which are used for teaching.”

Other zoo staff taking part in the Czech trips over the next six months are deputy curator Richard Brown, keeper Kellie Piper, registrar and research co-ordinator Dr David Beeston, keeper Nicola Wright, keeper Laura Robbins, marketing manager Julia Lockett, curator Matt Lewis and keeper Adam Walker.