Jasper, the six-month-old Masai giraffe at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, is learning to participate in his own medical care.

The zoo's animal care team has started teaching Jasper target training, touch desensitization for future blood draws and hoof care, and how to move comfortably through different parts of the giraffe barn. Amanda Winget, writing on the zoo's blog Sept. 10, described a program built around small, positive steps and Jasper's willingness to participate. NBC4 reported the update on Monday, Sept. 14.

Jasper was born at 6:16 p.m. on March 10 in the zoo's Heart of Africa region. His mother is Zuri, a 15-year-old Masai giraffe, and his father is Bobbie. He is Zuri's third surviving calf at the Columbus Zoo and Bobbie's first.

More than 7,000 people voted online to name him Jasper, with the zoo announcing the winning name on World Giraffe Day, June 21, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

He remains the youngest giraffe at the zoo.

What Jasper is learning

Target training teaches Jasper to approach and touch a specific target on command. Once he masters that skill, his care team can use it to guide him to stand, move and position himself for different types of care. He is also learning to stand at firehose straps, a tool commonly used in giraffe training, that can be raised as he grows taller.

His keepers have started touching his neck and working toward his chest. A giraffe's jugular vein runs through the neck and can be used for blood draws. The goal is for Jasper to one day participate in blood collections while fully awake, a skill adult giraffes at the Columbus Zoo have already learned.

That training connects to a broader effort. The Columbus Zoo and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado co-founded a giraffe plasma bank. Collaborating zoos collect plasma that can be sent to giraffes needing transfusions, and the program has helped save several calves across the country, according to the zoo's blog.

During a recent session, two team members knelt on pads beside Jasper as part of hoof-care preparation. He had never seen his keepers in that position or encountered the pads before.

The zoo said the care team is taking advantage of young giraffes' curiosity by gradually introducing Jasper to new people, objects, positions and places. He is also learning to navigate the barn's transfer chute and travel to the shamba to eat.

Conservation context

Jasper's parents were paired through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan (SSP), which helps accredited zoos maintain genetically diverse populations of threatened species. The Masai giraffe subspecies is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with an estimated 43,000 remaining in the wild. Their populations have declined by nearly 50 percent over the last three decades.

The Columbus Zoo has raised more than $400,000 for giraffe conservation projects since 2009.

Visitors can see Jasper and the giraffe herd in the Heart of Africa at 4850 Powell Road.