Topeka ? A giraffe born at the Topeka Zoo with severely deformed rear legs was up and walking hours after a veterinarian performed a procedure to give her an unusual pair of shoes to wear.

Hope, The Topeka Zoo’s baby giraffe, sports her first pair of corrective shoes in this July 16 photo. She received a new pair of shoes this week.

The nearly 1-month-old giraffe, called Hope, has a “very positive” prognosis after the procedure Wednesday, zoo director Brendan Wiley told The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Hope was born July 11 with hyperextended fetlocks, meaning each rear foot was folded back to the lower leg. Another giraffe born in 2005 to Hope’s mother, Dolly, had the same condition and was euthanized at 7 months old.

Interim veterinarian Joe Kamer began Wednesday’s procedure by removing casts Hope had been wearing since shortly after her birth.

The casts were replaced with a softcasting material. That material was attached to fabricated shoes made of three-quarter inch plywood and sporting extended heels and an artificial, external tendon. The “shoes” were glued to the bottom of Hope’s rear hooves.

The procedure has been performed on horses but Wiley said he was unaware whether it had ever been done on a giraffe.

“If this is successful, this will be something for us to talk about to the rest of the zoo community,” Wiley said.

At birth, Hope’s front tendons were too tight while the rear tendons in her legs were “stretched out too much,” Wiley said.

Hope had been wearing hard fiberglass casts since she was born, which kept her legs straight and stretched the front tendons. Wiley said the casts have stretched the front tendons and kept their alignment.

But Hope’s rear tendons still don’t have enough tension to enable her to walk properly without help, Wiley said. Wednesday’s procedure was designed to give the animal enough time to be able to use those tendons.

Hope already weighs 171 pounds and the bottom of her face is 6 feet, 2 inches above the ground. Other than the fetlock problem, Hope is in great health, Wiley said.

If the procedure fails, the zoo will have other options, such as an extended use of hard casts, antibiotics or the injection of bladder cells, he said.