More than 20 badger setts have been attacked in the past year

It is thought the young female was set upon by dogs before being hung up by her paws in a woodland near Doncaster.

A spokesman for the South Yorkshire Badger Group, who made the grim discovery, said attacks on the animals were increasing in the area.

"We've had a lot of trouble with attacks recently, but this is the worse I've come across," he said.

"We need to catch these people and stop these barbaric acts going on."

As a protected species, anyone convicted of killing a badger or damaging its sett faces a fine of up to �5,000 or six months imprisonment.

'Cruelty hotspot'

The Badger Group spokesman said its members monitored the setts as much as they could but more than 20 had been targeted in the past year.

"There's not just one group responsible and it's a problem all across Yorkshire, but Doncaster is a hotspot for cruelty," he said.

"Twenty years ago there were only two setts in Doncaster and they had slowly started to become more established.

"Now they're dying out and if this carries on, they're going to be extinct within a couple of years."