Kalahari Meerkat Project Northern Cape, South Africa, close to the border to Botswana, the project is jointly funded by Cambridge University and the Kalahari Research Trust. The project was founded in the early nineties by researchers (Prof. Tim Clutton-Brock) at Cambridge University. It was originally based on the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, but in 1993 moved to the Kuruman River Reserve, an area spanning approximately twenty square miles of semi-arid area of the Kalahari Desert on either side of the mostly dry Kuruman River. The reserve consists primarily of sparsely vegetated fossil dunes that flatten out near the river, which is usually dry. The
Kalahari Desert cattle fences restrict the movement of wildlife. Among deserts of the Southern Hemisphere, the Kalahari most closely resembles some Australian deserts in its latitude and its mode of formation. The Kalahari Desert came into existence approximately sixty million years ago along with the formation of the African continent. Although there are few endemic species, a wide variety of species are found in the region, including large predators such as the lion ("Panthera leo"), cheetah ("Acinonyx jubatus"), leopard ("Panthera pardus"), spotted hyena ("Crocuta crocuta"), brown hyena ("Hyaena brunnea"), and Cape wild dog ("Lycaon pictus pictus"). Birds of prey include the secretary