Staff members unboxing a shipping container in Whangārei last week were startled to find a dead monkey in the box.
Biosecurity New Zealand spokesperson Stu Rawnsley described it as "definitely one of our more unusual interceptions".
The container had been fumigated on its way from Guyana, South America.
After it arrived at Whangārei last week, a staff member from BBS Timbers found the dehydrated monkey body squeezed between sawn timber packs.
The body was described as being in "a poor condition" by Biosecurity NZ.
"We need to remember the dead animal could have been harbouring diseases or hitchhiker pests with the potential to damage New Zealand's economy and environment," Mr Rawnsley said in a statement today.
The body has been picked up by a biosecurity officer and taken for disposal, he says.
Biosecurity NZ has not identified the species of the monkey.
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