Almost 10,000 calls were made to the RSPCA reporting deliberate harm to a wild animal in the past five years, the charity has said.

It said reports of cruelty to surged last summer during the first Covid lockdown.

Some of the worst cases involved a hedgehog being stoned to death in Nottinghamshire, and a swan being shot six times in Wrexham.

Wild birds and mammals were found to be the most abused, and cases increased during the summer months.

Of the 84,000 calls received by the RSPCA cruelty line monthly, around 1,500 relate to intentional cruelty.

But this rises by around 400 per month during summer, equating to 47 extra calls a day.

As part of its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign, the RSPCA released the data to raise awareness of the increasing cases of abuse to wild animals and to raise funds for its rescue teams.

The charity says its inspectors see the suffering inflicted by criminals on animals through wildlife crime such as airgun and crossbow shooting, badger baiting, dog fighting, illegal hunting with dogs including hare coursing, and trapping birds.

Head of wildlife Adam Grogan said: “We say we’re a nation of animal-lovers and yet every year, we see wild animals in our wildlife centres and animal hospitals that have been badly injured or killed by being beaten, mutilated, poisoned, or shot for ‘fun’.

“Our data shows that reports of cruelty to wildlife surged over last summer.

“Police forces reported a rise in anti-social behaviour during that first lockdown, when pressures and frustrations may have led to more of this type of crime, leading to some seeking ‘entertainment’ through these sorts of barbaric incidents involving wildlife.”

He added: “There is no place for cruelty to animals in today’s society and we urge anyone who spots anything suspicious when out and about or sees anything online to report it to either the RSPCA’s cruelty line on 0300 1234 999, Crimestoppers or their local police force.”

Between 2016 and 2020, 4,383 cruelty incidents relating to wild mammals and 5,049 relating to wild birds were reported to the charity.

Cases were also high between June and August 2020 during lockdown with 376 cases being reported, which coincides with police reporting an increase in anti-social behaviour during this time.

Greater London had the highest number of wildlife abuse reporting 101 cases, followed by Kent with 37 and West Midlands with 36.

The animals intentionally harmed most frequently were foxes at 2,299, followed by deer at 500 and badgers at 497 reports.

As for wild birds, pigeons received the highest number of 1,518 reports of cruelty, followed by swans at 700, and gulls at 648.