A dead monkey has been discovered squeezed between sawn timber packs on a ship docked in Whangārei.
It was a staff member from BBS Timbers who discovered the dehydrated monkey body upon opening the fumigated container that had arrived from Guyana in South America.
The facility quickly alerted Biosecurity New Zealand, which advised how to remove the monkey and a biosecurity officer followed up with an inspection and picked up the body for disposal.
"The whole response worked extremely well. We were contacted by the business very early and our officers quickly jumped into gear," Biosecurity New Zealand spokesperson Stu Rawnsley said.
"You can't ask for anything more than that when it comes to protecting New Zealand from biosecurity risk.