His passion for Australian wildlife was born when the seven-year-old Wamsley's family moved to a 67 hectare bushland block at Niagara Park.
[3] June 1969 saw the purchase of a dairy farm at Mylor, South Australia, that was to become Wamsley's first sanctuary, Warrawong.
[2] Wamsley entered the public eye when he attended a tourism awards ceremony wearing a hat made from the pelt of a dead feral cat.
[5] By pioneering feral-proof fencing, native Australian animals were successfully re-introduced where they were locally extinct.
[5][6] The sanctuaries were sold, and some remain in operation, including Mount Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre[7] and several managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.