Wildlife carers in Victoria say more native animals are being injured or killed as prolonged dry weather drives them to seek food and water closer to urban areas.

Key points: Wildlife shelters are being inundated with emaciated and dehydrated animals

Wildlife shelters are being inundated with emaciated and dehydrated animals Native wildlife are closing in on urban centres around the state in search of food and water

Native wildlife are closing in on urban centres around the state in search of food and water As they draw closer to humans, wildlife are being hit by cars, caught in fences and attacked by dogs

Jon Rowdon, an environmental scientist and the owner of Hepburn Wildlife Shelter, said the drought had caused some native vegetation to stop producing fruit, leaving many native animals without food.

Mr Rowdon said kangaroos, wombats and koalas were being found near roads and in backyards, in search of something to eat.

He said the number of road accidents involving animals had increased fourfold since the drought began in 2017.

Jon Rowdon says he and his staff rely solely on community support to make ends meet. ( ABC: Lindsey Martin )

"What we're seeing is lots of animals coming, not only in closer towards people, but they're coming down to the ground when they wouldn't normally," Mr Rowdon said.

"The shelter is getting a lot of calls coming through, and our rescuers who are out there in the community are getting far more calls than we can even deal with."

Many of the kangaroos and wallabies living at the shelter are orphaned joeys. ( ABC Ballarat: Lindsey Martin )

Mr Rowdon said the number of animals at his shelter (about 200) had remained static because it was always at capacity, but he said the nature of the injuries had changed due to the drought.

As well as being hit by cars, native animals were being attacked by dogs and getting caught in fences.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, rainfall deficiencies have further increased across much of Victoria in the month of April, with no apparent long-term relief in sight.

Meanwhile, 250 kilometres away, Phillip Island wildlife rescue officer Kaylene Mendola said her shelter was under-resourced and struggling to keep up with the number of call-outs due to animals being hit by vehicles.

She said wildlife were particularly at risk on the roads that were frequented by tourists year round.

"The injuries are so bad that they have to be euthanised.

"We were absolutely over our limits quite a few months ago but at the moment the number coming in to care has dropped because we're so busy, by the time we get to them they need to be euthanised."

Philip Island animal rescuer Kaylene Mendola holding a baby possum ( Supplied )

Ms Mendola said the lack of fresh water was so acute that kangaroos had taken to drinking from puddles formed in potholes on the roads.

"It's been a rough time for them and it's making them slower; it's not making them aware of their surroundings, they're getting hit in bigger numbers."

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Ms Mendola said introducing lower speed limits between dusk and dawn would be one way the accidents might be prevented.

"That's when the animals are most active, and that's when we are called out: all night."

In the Melbourne suburbs of Doreen and as far in as Templestowe, finding a mob of kangaroos grazing on your front lawn has become a regular occurrence.

An eastern grey kangaroo joey in a pouch at Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. ( ABC Ballarat: Lindsey Martin )

Megan Davidson, CEO of Melbourne-based rescue organisation Wildlife Victoria, said her staff had received 6,000 phone calls about kangaroos in the metro region in 2018, and the number was not going down.

"The current situation where people are reporting increasingly kangaroos in urban areas is probably due to drought," she said.

"Kangaroos are on the move trying to find something to eat, and if the grass is green on the golf course, or the school oval, or people's front yards or verges, then obviously if they can get to that feed, that's what they'll do."

Mr Rowdon says Newton the corella is among many animals without food in the drought. ( ABC Ballarat: Lindsey Martin )

Ms Davidson said reports of kangaroo attacks around Melbourne's fringes were hyperbole.

"If an animal feels threatened it will defend itself, and often what people call attacks are really an animal feeling threatened and defending itself," she said.

In a statement provided to the ABC, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) said wildlife-human interactions were becoming more frequent as Victoria's human population continued to grow and urban development expanded.

"The management of wildlife-human interactions is complex and seeks to balance competing needs — ensuring the conservation and protection of wildlife, while also allowing for the active management of wildlife when necessary for the protection of human health and safety, livelihood and biodiversity," the DELWP statement said.

"The Victorian Government is committed to the conservation of Victoria's wildlife and has developed a Living with Wildlife Action Plan to ensure wildlife are secure and sustainably managed."