RSPCA ACT chief executive Michael Linke said 3221 wild animals, more than two-thirds of them birds, were brought into the organisation, but many should have been left alone.

In 2005-06, there had been 2536 presentations. The continual increase of wild animals brought in prompted him to develop an information campaign to improve awareness about native animals.

At this time of year, especially, fledglings learning to fly were often mistakenly brought in by members of the public who thought they were injured.

''We often see people bring us those types of animals that are perfectly healthy, they're just going through that early stage of development,'' Mr Linke said yesterday. Children were also a source of mistaken presentations.

''Kids doing what they think is the right thing will often pick them up and bring them to mum and dad and in that transfer cause injury or distress to the animal and it ends up in the RSPCA.''

Figures compiled by the RSPCA showed wildlife presented to them that had been attacked by cats and dogs had a survival rate of 15 and 23 per cent respectively.

While cats most commonly attacked birds and small mammals, dogs were more likely to attack large lizards. Cat injuries were often lethal because of bacteria in cat claws and puncture wounds from teeth and claws. Dogs crushed their victims with such force that they shattered bones.

''A foot-long skink brought in recently had 12 broken ribs as a direct result of a dog putting it in its mouth.''

Mr Linke called on Canberrans to be mindful of their pets' interaction with wildlife.

Precautions owners should take included having their dogs on leashes in public, and keeping cats indoors.

''Stopping the interaction between cats and dogs and native animals would reduce that number of injuries.

''Cat containment, keeping cats in from dusk till dawn, or installing a cat containment system in your house if you're concerned your cat can't cope inside.''

Some survival rates were encouraging. Of orphaned animals brought in, 61 per cent were successfully released and 49 per cent brought in because of vehicle collisions survived.