Before that, black bear were nearly considered varmints. All deer hunting licences used to come with a bear tag. The forests were all young, having been clear-cut heavily; leaving lots of moose food. Wolves were newly protected
Quite some time back, AK did a study on moose predation and found out black bears were far worse a problem than realized. The moose would calve down by the rivers and the Bears would just follow them down there when they started smelling the births.
Of course as stated, there are numerous factors.
