A school in rural New Zealand is copping flak after pictures were published of a possum-throwing contest taking place in the playground.

Last week, a North Island newspaper, the Manawatu Standard, ran pictures of students at Colyton School grabbing possum carcasses by the tail and lobbing them through the air to see how far they could toss them.

Since the article went to print, the newspaper has received several complaints about the contest and at least three people have contacted the SPCA, saying the practice taught kids to "disrespect dead animals".

Local mother Kim Rodgers called for the practice to be canned.

"I think we should have respect. It's not something we should do. It's definitely not something we should be teaching children to do," she told the Manawatu Standard.