A couple from Hong Kong have been arrested for attempting to smuggle reptiles out of Australia by hiding them inside teddy bears.

The 27-year-old man and 30-year-old woman were detained by customs officials in the city of Perth on Wednesday night.

A search led to the discovery of 12 bobtail lizards, several soft toys, packaging and postage material, according to a statement released by the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC).

Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation

A Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) officer slits open a teddy bear. A Hong Kong couple have been arrested in Perth, Australia, for attempting to export reptiles concealed inside teddy bears.

Authorities had been monitoring the pair after they allegedly made several attempts to post teddy bears overseas which contained more than 18 bobtail lizards, sand swimmer skinks and crevice skinks.

Over the past 12 weeks, a total of six packages in four consignments were intercepted by Customs and Border Protection at Perth Mail center, the statement said.

Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation

One of the bobtail lizards discovered after the arrest of two wildlife smugglers.

DEC senior wildlife investigator Rick Dawson said bobtail lizards were worth up to 7500 AUD ($8,000) on the Asian black market.

"While common in Western Australia, these lizards are highly sought after in Asia because they are easy to care for, attractive, and exotic," he said.

"In some instances the reptiles' eyes had been taped up, and the cold and cramped conditions they would have had to endure on a long journey without food or water in a cargo hold is abhorrent."

"This joint effort between Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Environment and Conservation demonstrates that we are committed to putting an end to this cruel practice."

The seized reptiles were due to be assessed by veterinary staff at Perth Zoo on Thursday.

Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation

A DEC officer examines one of the reptiles.

To learn more about the illegal trade in Asian wildlife, watch photographer Patrick Brown's project Black Market.

Greg Wood / AFP - Getty Images

Sydney Wildlife World's new baby joey koala "Boonda" clings to its mother "Elle" on June 28. Koalas are under threat due to a shortage of suitable habitats due to mass land clearances, with Sydney Wildlife World launching KOALA HQ in July to help raise much needed awareness regarding the importance of conserving one of Australia's most iconic and adored marsupials.

See more great animal pictures in our Animal Tracks slideshow.

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The remains of a damaged house at Shag Rock near Sumner after the cliff fell away during two magnitude 6.0 and 5.5 earthquakes struck on June 13 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The aftershocks came four months after the major eathquake which hit the city on February 22, resulting in the deaths of 181 people.

Martin Hunter / Getty Images

A car stands in water after two magnitude 6.0 and 5.5 earthquakes struck on June 13 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The AP reports from WELLINGTON, New Zealand:

A series of aftershocks rattled New Zealand's quake-devastated city of Christchurch again Monday, toppling one of the few buildings still standing downtown and sinking thousands of homes into darkness.

Bricks came crashing down in the cordoned-off city center, where only workers have tread since it was devastated in February's major earthquake. About 200 people were there when the quakes struck Monday, and two were briefly trapped in a church. In all, 10 people were injured in the city.

"We are being enveloped with dust," Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker told New Zealand's National Radio. "It is very, very scary." Continue reading.

Nick Perry of AP reports: New Zealanders were mourning the loss of the country's most famous sheep Tuesday, a shaggy national icon named Shrek who was renowned for avoiding being shorn for years.

Ross Land / AP, file

Shrek the merino sheep is photographed before he has his fleece shorn at the Golden Gate Lodge in Cromwell, New Zealand, in this April 28, 2004 file photo.

Shrek captured the public's imagination in 2004 after he evaded the annual shearing roundups for the previous seven years by hiding in caves on his farm on the South Island. When finally found, he was clad in an astonishing 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of wool.

That's about five times a typically annual shearing from Shrek's breed, the Merino sheep prized for some of the softest wool.

In a country where sheep outnumber people by nearly 10 to one, Shrek's story of stubbornness and guile appealed to many. After his capture, Shrek was shorn on live TV in a broadcast that was picked up around the world. His story inspired three books.

"He was quite an elderly statesman," said owner John Perriam. "He taught us a lot."

Until becoming sick three weeks ago, Shrek toured the country, commanding $16,000 for appearances and getting the star treatment wherever he went. In one appearance, Shrek was shorn atop a large iceberg that was floating near the South Island coast.

Simon Baker / Reuters, file

Shrek the merino sheep is unloaded from a van by musterer Danny Devine (L) and Shrek's owner John Perriam before a charity function in Cromwell in this April 28, 2004 file photo.

Shrek was one of about 17,000 sheep on the the 27,000-acre (11,000-hectare) Bendigo farm in the small town of Tarras. Perriam believes Shrek was able to survive the winters and avoid detection by moving about a series of sheltered caves and by munching on small native shrubs.

"It's bizarre that we missed him seven years in a row," Perriam said. "But from his point of view, it was the perfect environment."

After Shrek became a star, Perriam gave him his own barn and showroom. Shrek even had a personal caregiver look after him when he became sick, before the sheep was euthanized Monday at age 17.

Perriam said that as well as laying claim to being New Zealand's woolliest sheep, Shrek may also have been its oldest. Most sheep live for no more than six years before being slaughtered.

Since Shrek's death, tributes have been pouring in online, including on the Facebook page "R.I.P Shrek the Sheep."

Perriam is planning a funeral service and will ask a friend to scatter Shrek's ashes atop Mt. Cook, New Zealand's tallest mountain.

SYDNEY — Asylum seekers and other detainees at an Australian immigration center set fire to several buildings, climbed onto rooftops and hurled tiles at officials who were scrambling on Thursday to bring the chaotic protest to an end.

Rick Rycroft / AP

Fellow detainees grab onto a man, second left, and remove a wire he had around his neck that is tied to a vent, after he threatened to jump from a rooftop at the Villawood Detention Center in Sydney, Australia on April 21.

Brami Jegan / EPA

Burning buildings at the Villawood Detention Centre, set alight during a protest by up to 100 immigration detainees in the early hours of the morning. The riot began on 20 April, when asylum seekers took to a building's roof reportedly in protest to the department denying their visa applications.

Tim Wimborne / Reuters

Detainees hold a protest sign atop a building at Villawood detention centre on April 21. Angry asylum-seekers torched an immigration detention centre in Sydney on Thursday, burning part of it to the ground after Australian authorities denied some of their requests for refuge, local media reported.

Up to 100 people being held at Sydney's Villawood Detention Center were involved in the riots, which began Wednesday night when two detainees climbed onto a roof, immigration officials said.

Protesters set an oxygen cylinder alight, which led to an explosion, and nine buildings — including a medical center and dining hall — were gutted by fire. Firefighters brought the blaze under control early Thursday and no one was injured. Continue reading.

Julian Smith / AFP - Getty Images

Emergency services workers attend the site of an accident after a car plunged six storys from a multi-level parking lot in Melbourne, Australia on April 4. The driver, aged 41, was freed 40 minutes after the vehicle fell an estimated 30 metres before becoming stuck at ground level in a lane between the walls of the car park and another building.

Julian Smith / EPA

Emergency services workers attend the site of a car accident in Melbourne on April 4. The driver was injured after she drove through a Melbourne car park safety barrier and plunged six storys to the street below.

 Australia's Herald Sun newspaper reports:

A woman who had a miraculous escape after driving her car off a six-storey car park can thank her 4WD - and luck.

Paramedic Matthew Riddle, who was first to treat the 41-year-old woman, said he was amazed she survived.

"I think a lot of things contributed to keeping her alive today -- airbags, her seatbelt, luck," he said.

Prince William has been meeting some of those affected by two disasters in New Zealand. In Greymouth on the South Island the Prince met with the families of 29 men killed in an explosion at the Pike River coal mine on Nov. 19.

Marty Melville / AFP - Getty Images

Prince William receives a hong, a Maori greeting, from a tribal leader before meeting with officials of the Pike River company in Greymouth, New Zealand on March 17. Prince William is scheduled to hold a private meeting with the grieving families of the miners, whose bodies are still entombed in the sealed-off pit, which remains too dangerous to enter.

In Christchurch, the Prince got a firsthand look at the destruction wrought by last month's earthquake, praising the work search teams had done and adding that he wished he'd been able to help. William was escorted through the city, where the wreckage of collapsed buildings still lies piled up in areas. The downtown is still sealed off as workers dismantle unstable rubble and shore up weakened and wobbly buildings after a 6.3-magnitude quake on Feb. 22 that toppled or badly damaged thousands of buildings and killed at least 166 people.

Hannah Johnston / AP

Prince William, center, puts on a hat as he poses for a photo with members of the Urban Search and Rescue team in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 17. Christchurch was hit by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Feb. 22, causing major damage to the central city and surrounding suburbs.

"The scale of it is unbelievable," the prince said while visiting Latimer Square, a park in the center of town that became an emergency medical depot immediately after the quake. Read the full story.

Hannah Johnston / Getty Images

Prince William looks at the destruction at Christchurch Cathedral on March 17 in Christchurch, New Zealand. His Royal Highness is in New Zealand for two days to tour areas devastated by the Christchurch Earthquake and to visit families who lost loved ones at the Pike River Mine in Greymouth. Prince William will then travel to Australia on Saturday for three days where he will visit regions affected by floods and Hurricane Yasi in Queensland, as well as flood-affected parts of Australia.

After a 30-ton rock crashed through the roof of his garage and came to rest in his hallway during the Feb. 22 earthquake, Christchurch resident Phil Johnson had an idea - why not sell it?

Phil Johnson / AP

In this photo taken March 1, a car-sized boulder is seen after smashing Phil Johnson's house in last month's earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Johnson has sold the rock, Rocky, in an online auction for more than 60,000 New Zealand dollars (US$44,300). Johnson said the 30-ton boulder tumbled down from a hill overlooking his home, crunched through the roof of his garage and came to rest in his hallway during the Feb 22 quake. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal.

His listing on an online auction site described the "pristine condition" of the boulder Phil had dubbed 'Rocky' and suggested that it was "suitable for garden feature, or as in our case a magnificent addition to your living area."

The auction raised an astonishing US $44,300, and Phil is donating the proceeds to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal. Rocky was bought by a company which runs ski resorts, according to a report in The New Zealand Herald.

80 year old Betty McGrail is not quite so enamored with the boulder that landed in her living room.

Sarah Ivey / AP

In this photo taken March 4, Betty McGrail, 80, sits in her living room next to a large boulder which crashed through her house in the Feb. 22 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The Herald reports that Betty fled her home when the earthquake struck. "There were boulders and rocks coming down the hill from all different areas," she said.

"They came down the hill fast, bouncing. They came from everywhere with a 'boom, boom, boom'. When I went back to my house this big boulder was in the sitting room. It's sitting there quite nicely, like it's happy to be there. And no one knows how to get it out."

Torsten Blackwood / AFP - Getty Images

Luxury homes stand on the edge of a landslide in the suburb of Sumner on Feb. 24 after a 6.3 earthquake devastated the city of Christchurch two days earlier.

Torsten Blackwood / AFP - Getty Images

A suburban street is covered with silt forced out of the ground by liquefaction on Feb. 24 after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastated the city of Christchurch two days earlier.

 Follow the latest developments in Christchurch here and see more images in our slideshow.