THE gruesome discovery of a preserved brain in bushland in Sydney’s north shore has baffled authorities who have been unable to determine its origins.

History enthusiast David was searching the bushland in Mosman with a metal detector when he came across the brain last week.

The man, who did not wish to give his surname, had some strange theories as to why the brain was in the bush.

media_camera The bushland off Parriwi Rd, Mosman, near where the brain was found. Credit: Google Maps.

“Someone might have nicked it from a school lab or it could have been there for witchcraft,” David said. “We do find weird things but this is one of the different ones.”

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The discovery was made near Parriwi Road at about 4.30pm last Wednesday and the brain was taken by police to Royal North Shore Hospital and Glebe morgue for analysis.

Police believe it is an animal’s brain but have not deemed it to suspicious. The brain is expected to be sent to a vet hospital for further testing.

David said the brain was preserved in a jar labelled formaldehyde and was about the size of a large orange.

However he said the brain wasn’t the creepiest thing he had found in the bush.

Parriwi Park, Mosman

“I actually found a body a couple of years ago,” he said. “It’s an exciting hobby I tell you.”

David believes the bones he found were the remains of a man who had gone missing and he was happy his discovery gave the dead man’s family closure.

David, from Avalon, usually finds historic coins, musket balls and old buttons on his searches in the Mosman area.

“We call it dirt fishing as you never know what is going to come out of the ground,” he said.

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