It seems a person, Mark Merlino, involved in getting the first conventions going passed away the other day. So it made me think, was the emergence inevitable.
There were going to be communities dedicated to talking animals on the internet, that much is certain. Just about everything else was shaped by early founders. Aside from the furry fandom’s very existence which may be inevitable, every part of its shape and characteristics were laid by people like Sysable.
I’m not certain of that, although probably likely. It could have come to be just focused on produced media, like general comic cons, anime, and other cosplay. Certainly the early founders created the foundation for independent evolution to take place and the initial direction of that evolution.