Opening a parcel which you’ve ordered online always brings a mixture of excitement and trepidation as to what you might find inside.

But the last thing you would expect to discover is a big hairy tarantula angrily scuttling among the wrapping, which is what happened to one mystery lady.

The tarantula, which was later identified as a Togo Starburst Baboon spider, was dropped off at Chessington Zoo in July by the woman who said she found it in a package she had ordered.

Senior keeper of reptiles and birds Keith Russell said the zoo gets animals handed in every few months, but this delivery was something more out of the ordinary.

He said: “Normally we take people’s details so we can fill them in or keep them updated on the animal but from what I’ve heard I don’t think she was a big fan of it or any spiders.

“She just dropped it off and left, but it was very kind of her to bring it in at all rather than just throw it out or squish it.”

The West African arboreal species, which is fast and aggressive, took a few months to identify as it is one of 49 baboon spiders and about 900 types of tarantula.

According to Chessington Zoo the species has recently appeared in the pet trade, which means it may have appeared in the mystery shopper’s package as an escapee pet.

Mr Russell said: “She may have ordered something from South West Africa and it’s climbed into the box, this is entirely feasible and happens quite regularly.

“The chance of someone having it in the UK and escaping into an eBay packet or something is less likely and considering how feisty this one is I think it must have been wild.”

The venomous spider, which has a bite akin to a wasp sting, feeds on lizards, small mammals and crickets.

Mr Russell said: “It’s made a tunnel which it stays in all the time. If you tamper with the enclosure too much it will come out and really go for you."

The creepy crawly is being kept in the zoo office at the moment but keepers are deciding whether to put it on show or give it to another collection.