Six of the tusks seemed to have been recently removed from elephants, while the others appeared to be much older.
The identity of the owner of the 26 elephant tusks confiscated at a business premises in Derdepoort, north of Pretoria, remains unknown.
The tusks are worth an estimated R4 million, Rekord East reported.
The company, Big Buck Taxidermy, was raided by police on Wednesday.
Hawkas spokesperson Major Robert Netshiunda said: “We are continuing investigations to establish who the tusks belong to and where the business got them from.”
Paul O’Sullivan, a forensic investigator at O’Sullivan and Associates, said six of the tusks seemed to have been recently removed from elephants, while the others appeared to be much older.
SANParks spokesperson Reynold Thakhuli said he would not speculate on whether or not the discovery was linked to the recent killing of an elephant which was smeared with poison, seemingly to kill scavengers.
He said two lions and hundreds of vultures have died from feeding on the poisoned carcass.
“Poaching is a war that we’ll never win alone in the bush. We’re calling on all citizens to contact law enforcement agencies when they have any information on illegal poaching activities,” added Thakuli.
He said this was the second time an elephant had died as a result of poaching since December last year.
No arrests have been made.
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