Young fox discovered by passerby in Villa Pamphilj on first day after lockdown.

A fox cub was found seriously injured by a visitor to Villa Pamphilj, Rome's largest park, on 4 May, reports Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

The woman, who discovered the fox near the park's lake, immediately took the cub to a veterinarian who assessed that the wild animal had suffered a "severe trauma."

The female fox was christened Romana by the Associazione per Villa Pamphilj, with some park-goers suggesting the young animal was attacked by dogs unleashed by their owners on the first day the city reopened parks after lockdown.

However for now there is no official confirmation, or witnesses. After being kept under observation over night by the veterinarian, the fox was transported to the LIPU Wildlife Recovery Centre in Villa Borghese.

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The incident comes after Rome's wild animals were largely undisturbed during almost two months of lockdown and the absence of people.

Villa Pamphilj was subjected to sustained vandalism at night throughout the lockdown, in acts condemned by the mayor Virginia Raggi.

This time last year one of the foxes resident in Villa Pamphilj was killed by a dog whose owner hid the dead body in the undergrowth.

Photo Associazione Villa Pamphilj