Hope the giraffe is shown at the Topeka Zoo in this July 7, 2011, photo. Hope, who underwent a groundbreaking procedure last summer to save her life, is celebrating her first birthday Monday, July 11, 2011.

In this July 7, 2011, photo, only a few scars remain visible on Hope the giraffe's hind legs a year after local veterinarian Joseph Kamer came up with hard casts and special shoes to allow her to walk on her own, at the Topeka Zoo in Topeka. Hope was born with hyperextended fetlocks, which made her rear feet fold forward into the lower leg.

Topeka ? A giraffe born with severely deformed rear legs that had a groundbreaking procedure to give her an unusual pair of shoes is thriving as she marks her first birthday, and Topeka Zoo officials say her saga has helped repair the troubled facility’s reputation.

The giraffe, named Hope, was born July 11, 2010, with hyperextended fetlocks, meaning each rear foot was folded forward into the lower leg. Shortly after her birth, she underwent the procedure aimed at repairing her legs and saving her life.

“We didn’t think she had much of a chance,” said zoo director Brendan Wiley. Another giraffe born in 2005 to Hope’s mother, Dolly, had the same condition and was euthanized at 7 months old.

Immediately after Hope’s birth, Joe Kamer, who was interim veterinarian at the time, placed red fiberglass casts on the calf’s rear legs to immobilize them, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. A few days later, he placed new casts on her legs. Eventually the casts were replaced with a soft casing material attached to fabricated shoes, which were glued to the bottom of Hope’s rear feet. Each shoe featured an artificial, external tendon made of rope tubing in a hard-cast material.

The shoes were made of three-quarter-inch plywood and had extended heels that were based on molds of Hope’s feet.

The procedure worked and Hope is acting and growing like a normal 1-year-old giraffe, zoo officials said.

“She has done so well,” Wiley said. “She looks so normal. She is so normal.”

Wiley became zoo director shortly before Hope was born. It also was shortly after the U.S. Department of Agriculture criticized the zoo for numerous animal deaths, its professional accreditation was tabled and most of its managers left or were fired. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums withheld the zoo’s accreditation until finally granting full accreditation in March.

Wiley said Hope’s ordeal and recovery has helped the zoo’s image and employee morale.

“A lot of perceptions began to shift,” he said. “It’s been incredible. Hope represents the future of giraffes here. Eventually she will be paired with a male with the purpose of continuing the giraffe population at the zoo. She gave us one common purpose to work on. There was teamwork involved.

“We’re still a zoo in change, but we are a zoo with a much clearer vision than we were a year ago. We still have a long road to where we want to be.”

Mayor Bill Bunten agreed that the zoo has vastly improved in the last year.

“Indeed, Hope has helped, along with the new manager,” Bunten said. “I think she is the star of the zoo. She suffered a lot with the casts and everything, but now she is doing fine. That is the way the city of Topeka is. We have had some tough times, but now we are doing real good. Without hope, you haven’t got anything. People need to remember that. When people see this little giraffe, they need to remember she didn’t have much going for her except hope. She made it, and now she is our star.”

Hope’s story caught the attention of a concerned public and zoos around the country. When she had the procedure last summer, several zoos watched to see if the effort worked.