Native animals in the New South Wales Central Tablelands are facing "near total destruction" following an 18,000 hectare bushfire, conservationists and carers say.
The Alpha Road fire, north of Hill End, destroyed eight homes and killed hundreds of livestock as it burned for almost a fortnight.
The president of the Central West Wildlife Carers Network John Marshall spent more than a week fighting the blaze with the Rural Fire Service.
He said a number of native species suffered considerably.
"With the possums and gliders, there wouldn't be that many left in there," he said.
"There were beautiful trees with hollows — most of those have been destroyed.
"[There is] damage to their homes, it has been near total destruction for them."
Mr Marshall said the speed of the fire and increased activity on the road had a big impact on kangaroos.
"It was a very intense fire — when it made its runs a lot of ground life couldn't escape," he said.
"We have lost a terrible lot of them.
"The kangaroos have suffered a reasonable amount — because they have been staying on the roads to escape, we have had a very high load of roadkill."
Koalas and wombats survive
A key area of concern was a small colony of disease-free koalas near Hill End.
"We were fortunate to keep the fire away from them, they are safe," Mr Marshall said.
"It was a priority for us to save them and the bushfire shouldn't affect the population at all."
WIRES emergency responder Kyana McPherson visited the fire ground to search for animals in need of assistance.
She saw "a lot of different species" impacted by the fires, but said the wombats appeared to have avoided the worst.
"We didn't see many of them out there, so it is possible they were able to evacuate to their burrow systems, which could have helped them survive a little better," Ms McPherson said.
Mr Marshall said it would be years before the environment recovered.
"It will take a long time for the native populations who have been displaced from these areas to move back in," he said.
"The possums and gliders don't have the leaves they need to move back in — it might take several years for them to return to those areas."
Ms McPherson said the effects of the fire would be felt heavily in the next few months.
"A lot of animals have been directly affected in terms of injury or illness," she said.
"There are also other concerns for habitat loss, lack of food, and homes.
"All of those things combined make it really challenging."
