Jon Rowdon, who runs the 24-hour shelter with his wife Gayle Chappell, said recently a four-month-old wombat joey, left for hours under the body of its dead mother at Trentham, was brought to the shelter.

"(Its) mother was killed by a car at night just outside Trentham and it was carelessly left on the road," Mr Rowdon said.

"Nobody checked on her or removed her from the roadway so condemning the helpless baby in her pouch to a slow, forlorn death from cold and starvation beneath his cold and unresponsive mother.

"Fortunately a compassionate local resident discovered the tragic scene, thought to check for signs of life and rescued her."

Mr Rowdon said that after "some urgent care and warmth" at the wildlife shelter she was doing very well.

He said the joey's plight was a common story for wildlife.

"It is an ongoing tragedy," he said.

"We average a new orphan or injured animal every day and these are only the ones people bring to us or report so we can rescue them ourselves.

"This is always a busy time of year for us but it is getting worse. We are full to bursting and they keep coming in."

Mr Rowdon said the shelter averaged about 70 animals in care at a time, more than twice that of four years ago.

He said the shelter was run without without any government support and needed donations from the public to continue its work.

"We all live amongst a rich and varied population of wildlife and I think we owe it to them to be compassionate towards them when we injure them or kill their parents," he said.

To make a donation visit www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.com, call 5348 3932 or send cheques to Hepburn Wildlife Shelter, PO Box 133, Daylesford, 3460.