The bodies of road kill victims strewn along busy highways are a confronting sight for motorists on summer holidays.

An estimated 86,000 native animals are killed each year on Australian roads and many others are seriously injured.

At this time of year volunteer wildlife carers are kept busy nursing injured or orphaned animals.

But specialist wildlife care is being pioneered in southern New South Wales.

Majors Creek couple nursing animals back to health

Leslie and Bill Waterhouse have been volunteer wildlife rescuers for a decade.

They proudly hold Precious and Tumble, two tiny bare nosed wombats who lost their mothers.

Bill and Leslie Waterhouse enjoy nursing animals such as these baby wombats back to health, but fear for their future back in the wild. ( ABC News: Adrienne Francis )

"She's called Tumble because when her mum was hit by the car, the man in the car behind it saw a little pinkie come out of the pouch," Ms Waterhouse said.

"This is Precious. She's a road orphan. Most of the ones we get in are roadkill orphans."

The couple live at Majors Creek east of Canberra and regularly collect injured wildlife from the Kings, Hume, Princes and Monaro Highways.

Bill Waterhouse describes the local road carnage as beyond belief.

"We have found 400 dead wombats in a year just in our nearby region, and we have had a month where we counted 70 dead wombats, " he said.

"There would be thousands and thousands on the Kings Highway [between Canberra and Batemans Bay] every year.

The couple are currently caring for 12 injured wombats, including 4 orphaned wombat babies, and an injured kangaroo at their home.

"The sleeplessness doesn't come about from the phone calls from the public, the sleeplessness comes about from the four-hourly feeds," Mr Waterhouse said.

Pioneering treatment of injured wildlife in old shearing shed at Braidwood

Vet Dr Ralph says treating wildlife road victims is expensive but important. ( ABC News: Adrienne Francis )

The treatment of injured, wild animals is often complicated, costly and almost non-existent in regional areas.

Dr Howard Ralph created his specialist site five years ago by converting a shearing shed on his Braidwood property.

"The same level of care is required for a wildlife patient as is required for any other animal, be it a domestic species like a dog or a cat or a human primate," he said.

"They still require the same level of care and we try to provide this."

The bulk of Dr Ralph's patients are injured on roads, and his practice relies on community goodwill, volunteers and charitable donations.

"[We focus on] saving lives, easing pain, dealing with things that can be treated and should be treated," he said.

But it is a big struggle financially and we took a really big hit when the financial crisis occurred.

"I feel frustration that wildlife do not get the respect they should get.

"They are living, sentient beings that feel pain and suffering, and should be treated with compassion."

Road kill orphans face uncertain future after recovery

Leslie Waterhouse says when they first started taking in animals the couple looked forward to release day.

"Now we really hate it because you don't know what's going to happen to them," she said.

"One of the things that we find really upsetting is when people hit them, they don't even bother to stop."

The eight-month-old female joeys Tumble and Precious each weigh about 2.5 kilograms.

Tumble's injured jaw may need to be realigned before she is released into the wild.

"They do actually turn back into wild wombats and would gladly rip your hand off," Ms Waterhouse said.

A heart-warming thought with two more years of fostering the baby wombats ahead for the Waterhouses.

They are urging drivers to slow down and avoid adding to the road-kill statistics.