A Hunter group of volunteers, helping to rehabilitate injured wildlife and return them to their natural environment, says it is pushed to its limits coping with demand following the New South Wales bushfires.

Wildlife Aid secretary Brad Smith says spring is a particularly busy time of year for the organisation but an early start to bushfire season is not helping.

The group cover a large chunk of the Upper Hunter and into New England, from Branxton to Gunnedah, Merriwa to the Barrington Tops.

Mr Smith says the recent extreme weather is also generating an increase in injured animals requiring care.

“The amount of animals we’re getting in, especially with this dry weather,” he said.

“Kangaroos – a lot of them are coming to the side of the road to get grass and getting bowled over by cars.

“We’ve got quite a few joeys in recently.

“The big winds that we’ve had in the last month or so, a lot of birds have come in – birds getting blown out of nests and that sort of thing.”

Wildlife Aid says residents need to be on alert for injured wildlife.

Mr Smith says a number of scorched wallabies were rescued after recent fires and the group’s volunteers and resources are being stretched to the limit.

“It’s the worst time for joeys, and it’s the worst time for birds, and there’s also a lot of snake and reptile calls this time of year as well,” he said.

“And it stretches us pretty much to the limit, so we’re always looking for new members to become either snake handlers or other reptiles, birds, mammals, that sort of thing.”