A BLOODY corpse of a badger has been found near its Malvern Hills sett, a killing blamed on a gang of badger baiters.

The sett had been dug and bore all the classic hallmarks of baiting, according to Mike Weaver, chairman of the Worcestershire Badger Group.

Mr Weaver was called in after a local person discovered the wounded animal in a nearby hole, where it is thought to have crawled.

Mr Weaver said the sett, between Colwall and Malvern, was targeted by what appeared to be a team of professionals,

The society says the incident is the latest in a spate of attacks in the district over the last few months.

Badgers are an officially protected species, although a cull is being carried out in a section of Herefordshire as part of a Government study into links between badgers and Bovine TB. The perceived link has not helped the badgers' cause with many farmers.

Mr Weaver said that although badgers are sometimes killed by landowners, last week's incident could be put down to badger baiters.

"In its purest form they send down a terrier which holds the badger in its chamber and prevents it getting out," said Mr Weaver. "Commonly, they attach a radio to the dog so they can locate where the badger is underground, then they dig down into the chamber."

Dogs, often Staffordshire bull terriers, are then set on the badger to try and drag it out of its sett. It's seen as a test of strength of a dog.

"A badger is quite a powerful animal and fairly good at defending itself but they keep sending in fresh dogs and sometimes bash it on the head to weaken it," said Mr Weaver.

"They have been known to catch badger cubs and take them away to 'bring on' inexperienced dogs, because inexperienced dogs don't stand such a good chance."

Mr Weaver said he struggled to understand just why anyone should want to inflict such cruelty on an animal.

"It obviously gives them some kind of thrill. They can boast about their dogs and scars on their dogs are shown off as badges of achievement," he said

"It's a culture that's hundreds of years old and at one time almost everyone in the village would have been involved. But although society has moved on, certain people still think they have the right to do what they like."

Insp Steve Pooler, of West Mercia Police, who acts as a co-ordinator for the force wildlife liaison officers, said they need to find evidence in order to mount a successful prosecution. He said the baiters will have some form of lighting and possibly sticks to poke down holes and nets to cover them.

"What we'd ask is for local people to look out for unusual activity, strange vehicles, flashing lights and yapping dogs, and ring us so that we can intercept them," he said.

Jo Cunningham, of the RSPCA, said badger baiting was a serious offence. She said: "As far as I'm aware it's not on the increase but that's not to say it's not a problem. These things are very underground. It's something we really don't want to see happening, it's sick and awful."