Biosecurity inspectors have found a dead snake in a container from Australia.
The Ministry for Primary Industries says one of its inspectors in Dunedin last week found a non-venomous carpet python tangled in wire mesh inside a container of household items sent from Brisbane.
The ministry believes the snake may have been attracted by a box of food scraps in the container sent in breach of biosecurity rules.
It says it has intercepted more than 60 snakes in shipping containers and other cargo over the past 13 years.
The dead carpet python found in a container from Brisbane. Photo: PRIMARY INDUSTRIES MINISTRY
