Reintroductions of animal species for conservation purposes have been responsible for some of the 21st century’s most high-profile conservation successes. Despite this, reintroductions often fail. While understanding a species’ ecology is key to successful translocation, recent reviews have also identified socio-political issues as a major barrier to species reintroductions globally, perhaps due to stakeholder misalignment, political and economic instability, or failure to accurately assess the social landscape prior to reintroduction. To examine these issues, we conducted a meta-analysis of in the IUCN CTSG Global Conservation Translocation Perspectives reports (2008-2021) to identify the key political, social and economic barriers to species reintroductions globally. We compiled information of conflicts between parties, identifying who conflicts occurred between (e.g. government, landowners, members of the public, commercial businesses), the cause of the conflict (e.g. threat to livelihood by the translocated animal, threat to personal wellbeing, threat to industry, cultural objection), if the conflict was mitigated and if so how (e.g. education, outreach, engagement, financial compensation, publicity campaigns) and translocation success. Using this database, we investigated 1) the most common political, social and economic challenges faced and their impacts on reintroduction success, 2) the specific socio-political challenges associated with particular taxa (e.g. large predators) and 3) geographic trends in political, social and economic barriers. Synthesising across case studies, we propose possible solutions and strategies for navigating these barriers moving forward, in the hopes that past mistakes may inform future successes in socio-ecological development.