where do they come from

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/meerkat/?source=A-to-Z

you can see from the map that meerkats come from the southern half of Africa in the yellow section.
 They live in deserts and the grass lands of sothern Africa.
Merkats are  mammals that are squirrel -sized members of the mongose family.They are the only member of the monose family that dose not have a bushy tail.