16
Them Survive.” Unlike in the rest of
Africa, in Botswana the population
of pachyderms has exploded, from
50,000 in the mid-1990s to 130,
today. The country can’t handle that
many. “Forced to compete for scarce
food and water, elephants have been
moving out of their usual range into
more-inhabited areas—with horren-
dous consequences,” i.e., the killing and
maiming of people in rural villages.
Hunting would allow villagers to
protect themselves, and rogue pachy-
derms “will quickly learn to keep out of
areas where they shouldn’t be.”
By allowing local communities to
get a cut of the hunting-license fees,
they “will gain a strong incentive to
value [the elephants]—and what you
value, you take care of.”
What about other parts of Africa,
such as Angola, where the lethal com-
bination of rampant poaching and
continuous civil strife drove the herds
away, or the African savanna, where
poaching and, to a far lesser extent,
population pressures have knocked
the elephant numbers down 30%?
These are areas in which an exten-
sive program of controlled hunting and,
where possible, greater property rights
could be extremely helpful. Famed
Johns Hopkins economist Steve Han-
ke, who years ago did extensive work in
Kenya on how property rights might
work, recently wrote for us: “Conven-
tional approaches to wildlife manage-
ment in Africa have failed, as witnessed
by the dramatic declines in wildlife pop-
ulations.” He concludes, based on his ex-
tensive groundwork in Africa, that “only
by establishing secure property rights for
land and wildlife would these resources
be rendered valuable. Markets for them
would then develop. They would be
wisely used, protected and conserved.
The prudent use of resources is, and
always has been, all about property,
prices, markets and legitimate trade.”
In addition, such rights would cre-
ate more resources. For example, the
U.S. pig population would plummet,
and those remaining would become
wild, if suddenly there were no mar-
ket for bacon, ham, sausage, pork and
pork rinds.FORBES.COM NOVEMBER 30, 20 19-^
FACT^&COMMENTIntroducing
What’s Ahead,
the new podcast hosted
by Steve Forbes.
Subscribe now on iTunes
or GooglePlay Store. FRESTAURANTS:
GO, CONSIDER, STOP
Edible enlightenment from our eatery
experts and colleagues Richard Nalley,
Monie Begley and Randall Lane, as well
as brothers Bob, Kip and Tim.
z Tri Dim Shanghai
1378 Third Ave., between 78th & 79th
streets (Tel.: 212-585-3388)
This authentic Shanghainese restaurant’s
menu is extensive and clever and offers many
dim sum dishes. Begin with delicious pan-
seared dumplings, soup dumplings or steamed
dumplings or a juicy Peking crispy duck roll.
There are such classics as moo shu pork and
General Tso’s chicken as well as a bespoke
section from which you can design your own
dish, choosing the vegetable, main ingredient
and sauce. The menu has inventive dishes,
such as Ants Climb on Tree (spicy minced beef
stir-fried with glass noodles in garlic sauce).
Fish lovers should try the Red Fire Cracker
Prawns and Scallops tossed with asparagus
and chili peppers. Service is welcoming.
z Lamalo
11 East 31st St., Arlo NoMad Hotel
(Tel.: 212-660-2112)
Gadi Peleg’s latest foray into the glorious
flavors of Israeli and Middle Eastern cuisines
is minting devotees. Fans come for the Daily
Spread, a $25-per-person extravaganza
that starts with a delectable piece of laffa,
a blistery Middle Eastern flatbread strewn
with savory spices. The spread features
small dishes from a rotating menu that tend
toward the sensational, including hummus,
labneh and the otherworldly scordalia, a
garlicky, almondy potato dip. The dishes and
laffa keep coming until you ask them to stop.
z Keens Steakhouse
72 West 36th St.
(Tel.:212-947-3636)
With its low ceilings, crepuscular lighting and
rank upon rank of clay pipes, Keens is the
city’s most atmospheric steak house and, for
those who cherish it, home to the pinnacle
dish for city carnivores: the smoky, mouth-wa-
tering trencherman’s mutton chop. Standard
cuts of luxury beef can hold their own against
those at any other steak house in the city, and
the (few) nonmeat choices like the Dover sole
receive the same love from the kitchen.
z Society Cafe
52 West 13th St., Walker Hotel
(Tel.: 212-300-4525)
The newly rechristened restaurant at the
Walker is a good choice for an enjoyable
meal. The dining room’s skylight gives the
space a cheerful atmosphere, and service is
prompt and pleasant. Salads are tasty and
generously proportioned. The frites in the
steak frites are boffo, and the ricotta ca-
vatelli is just like mom used to make. Banana
crème brûlée and the layered chocolate cake
are both worth the calories.Steve Forbes Cont.lions of lives.
In vivid contrast to those in the
U.S., British health authorities en-
dorse e-cigarettes as a highly effective
means of enabling people to give up
smoking tobacco.
Nonetheless American politicians
and government regulators—led by
the FDA—are banning flavored e-ciga-
rettes, claiming that they are designed
to lure unwary teenagers to take up the
habit. San Francisco—that haven for
drug addicts and people who defecate
on sidewalks—has even banned the sale
of vaping devices. The reality is that al-
most all vapers—there are about 11 mil-
lion adult users in the U.S.—prefer fla-
vors to the taste of unflavored tobacco.
As for an “epidemic” in teenage vap-
ing, there is little evidence e-cigarettes
have become a gateway to cigarette
smoking. Smoking among teenag-
ers has, in fact, declined dramatically
since the 1990s.
Banning e-cigarettes, prohibiting fla-
vored versions or imposing draconian
taxes (as a number of pols in Congress
and elsewhere are pushing for) would
have two bad results: more people smok-
ing traditional—and highly lethal—ciga-
rettes, and the rise of black markets for
flavored e-cigarettes, with all the risks of
unsafe versions that that would entail.How to Save the
ElephantsHOW’S THIS for a counterintuitive
idea? One effective way to preserve el-
ephants and other threatened wildlife
in Africa would be to allow controlled
big-game hunting.
Botswana’s president, Mokgweetsi
Masisi, recently penned a provocative
piece for the Wall Street Journal en-
titled “Hunting Elephants Will Help