Three reasons: 1. Humans are dangerous prey (eventually). The attack means the wolf was desperate enough to risk its life on a big gamble in order to eat. It

Three reasons: 1. Humans are dangerous prey (eventually). The attack means the wolf was desperate enough to risk its life on a big gamble in order to eat. It was probably hoping to grab one of the kids and get away with him before one of the parents killed it. Even though the attack was unsuccessful, a desperate animal will do otherwise stupid things to survive. Even if it didn't attack another human, it would certainly go deep into human territory and try for livestock. 2. A humane cull of an unfit, packless individual is better than leaving it to die from a starvation spiral. 3. A necropsy would provide useful data on the health of the local pack.