While poor sanitation and underfunded services contribute, the core reason Indian cities struggle with stray animals is cultural. Strong animal protection laws are reinforced by religious beliefs that revere cows, monkeys, and snakes. This creates social opposition to scientific management, such as culling or relocating animals.

Australia's massive dingo eradication efforts were not just a local farming issue. They were driven by the British textile industry's immense demand for wool, which made sheep farming the powerhouse of the Australian economy and turned the native dingo into a major economic threat that had to be eliminated.

The world's longest fence was initially built to control invasive rabbits, a project that completely failed. The costly infrastructure was later adapted and extended to manage dingo populations, demonstrating how a failed public works project can find a new, more effective purpose.

For Kancha Sherpa, who helped open Everest to the world, the subsequent tourism boom was a double-edged sword. It brought unprecedented prosperity to his village, lifting it from poverty. Yet, he was deeply troubled by the environmental and spiritual damage, viewing the litter as "filthying the goddess."

When games introduce players to new environments or creatures, it can spark genuine curiosity and engagement with the real world. After Minecraft added the endangered axolotl, Google searches spiked, and an axolotl sanctuary reported a surge in visitors inspired by the game.

For decades, dingoes were viewed as invasive feral dogs, which justified widespread extermination policies. The modern scientific consensus that they are a unique, native Australian species has created a deep cultural and political conflict over their management, pitting conservation against agricultural interests.

For centuries, the violent and mysterious nature of the uncontacted Mashko-Piro tribe inadvertently protected a vast river basin in the Amazon. Their hostility toward outsiders created a natural barrier against loggers and developers, preserving the area as one of the wildest places on Earth.

Although the wool industry's economic dominance has faded, removing the dingo fence is considered "political suicide." The structure has transformed into a powerful symbol of Australia's agricultural heritage, making its costly maintenance a political tool for politicians to show support for farmers, regardless of ecological cost.

Colossal's CEO admits that headline-grabbing projects like the dire wolf overshadow more impactful but less "sexy" work, such as saving the critically endangered red wolf. The glamorous projects act as a funnel for attention and funding for broader conservation efforts.