Sinister fears over number of dead badgers on Shropshire roads

But there may be a more sinister reason for some of the carcasses, which may have been illegally shot and then dumped.

Stuart Edmunds, from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, said he had seen a growing number of dead badgers and had been receiving reports from around the county.

He said: "It is normal around this time of the year as badgers start to become more active and there is more chance of them wandering across roads at night.

"The higher number of road casualties is an indicator that the population is quite high at the moment and across the UK, many thousands of badgers will die on roads."

However, he said he had also received some reports of badgers who don't appear to have died as a result of being hit by a car.

He said it is not unheard of for unscrupulous people to shoot badgers and then dump the carcasses.

"Occasionally, reports come in about suspicious road casualties which appear to be relatively undamaged. Generally badgers that are killed by cars have visible damage to their heads – broken jaw usually – from the impact of a car, so it is suspected that occasionally badgers found dead on roadsides in apparently good condition may have been shot and left on the verge," he said.

"If people inspect a badger body and there is no visible sign of injury, it could be evidence of illegal shooting and I recommend that they contact the police."

Sightings of dead badgers can be reported to the Shropshire Badger Group on (01743) 271999 or at rbennett355@gmail.com