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
Desert pupfish finished spawning, she will flee in a "panicky" style with the male in pursuit. This chase lasts for about 5 minutes before the male swims to the bottom and both fish begin foraging. "C. macularius" are euryhaline and eurythermal, tolerating temperatures between approximately 4º and 45 °C and salinities ranging from 0 to 70 parts per thousand, exceeding the tolerances of virtually all other freshwater fish. The desert pupfish can also survive dissolved-oxygen concentrations as low as 0.13 ppm. The desert pupfish has been noted to be more abundant in environments with high vegetative cover, pH and salinity, and low