People who support having the state kill wolves have long claimed that science is on their side. They claim that what prevents state wolf killing is politics. They claim that evil animal rights groups use propaganda to exploit the emotions of city-dwellers, who then oppose state wolf killing. The truth is something quite different. People who want the state to kill wolves would be in no position to get their way except for politics.
Hunters are a minority in Alaska, but their allies are in the majority in the state Legislature.
The Legislature passes laws that demand the state manage its wildlife to produce the maximum number of moose and caribou. No, they do it so that hunters will have the maximum number of targets. The Legislature also does its level best to make sure the state Board of Game, which is responsible for game management policy, remains a group that represents only hunters. So what we've seen over the past 20 years is a political struggle over wolves that pits the wishes of the majority against the desires of a powerful minority. Science has nothing to do with it.