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
Karakum Desert Karakum Desert The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara-Gum (, ; ;), is a desert in Central Asia. Its name means "Black Sand" in Turkic languages, in reference to the dark soil that lies beneath the sandy surface of much of the desert. It occupies about 70 percent, or 350,000 km², of the area of Turkmenistan. The population is sparse, with an average of one person per 6.5 km² (one person per 2.5 square miles). Rainfall is also sparse, ranging from 70 to 150 mm per year. Covering much of present-day Turkmenistan, the Karakum Desert lies east of the