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Animal welfare campaigners today claim caged trapping “cannot be done humanely” as harrowing images emerged of a badger left to bleed to death.

The large adult was caught at night as it hunted for food.

Activists found it at 1.20pm the following day and claimed its body was still warm to the touch.

The manner of its death and the failure to quickly remove the corpse for disposal appears to breach strict rules.

(Image: Stop The Badger Cull) (Image: Stop The Badger Cull) (Image: Stop The Badger Cull)

Queen guitarist and campaigner Brian May said: “I’m sure I’m not alone in finding these pictures very painful.

“It’s pitiful to see these magnificent creatures being destroyed.”

The dead badger was found in Devon last week.

Activists claim its bloodied fur and warm body suggests it died long after daybreak and the person who shot it failed to kill it.

A best practice guide for the cull, issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, states: “Cage traps set to catch must be checked and any badgers caught must be dealt with as soon as practicable after dawn the following day.”

It also says cull operators are legally obliged “not to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal under the control of man – this includes a wild animal in a trap”.

(Image: Stop The Badger Cull)

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As soon as a badger is shot, its corpse has to be put in two thick plastic bags for Defra to dispose of, normally by incineration.

Last week the Government issued licences to extend the cull at 11 new areas in Devon, ­Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset and Cheshire. It aims to prevent bovine TB.

But Brian May said: “The case for killing wildlife as part of a strategy for cleaning up herds of cattle is incredibly weak, and a huge doubt hangs over this policy. Yet this government ploughs ahead as if they are blindfolded.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

(Image: Daily Mirror)

“This is a tragic waste of ­innocent lives, which will not help farmers or cattle, and it’s a criminal waste of taxpayers’ money.”

Jay Tiernan, of Stop The Cull, said of the photo: “This makes a farce of the idea it is being done to stop disease because protocols are being ignored across the cull zones.

“We are seeing evidence now that caged trapping cannot be done humanely. The people undertaking the cull are amateurs and have scant regard for animal welfare.”

The Badger Trust said more than 30,000 of the nocturnal animals could be killed in the next six weeks.