Occurs in a wide range of habitats, but primarily found in savanna and woodland, usually close to water, and absent from desert, semi-desert and montane regions (Cant and Gilchrist 2013). Often found in habitats containing termitaria, which are used as den sites. Also observed in towns and villages. Diet consists mainly of insects, with other invertebrates, vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, the eggs and young of birds, small mammals), and wild fruits also consumed (Gilchrist et al. 2009, Maddock et al. in press). Flexible and known to forage on human garbage (Gilchrist and Otali 2002, Otali and Gilchrist 2004). Highly social but territorial species, living in groups of 4–29 individuals with low reproductive skew (most females breed) (Gilchrist et al. 2009), making populations less vulnerable to stochastic effects than other social mongoose species (Meerkat Suricata suricatta and Common Dwarf Mongoose Helogale parvula). Home range size varies from 0.61 to 2.01 km² in Uganda (Gilchrist and Otali 2002), and is larger in more arid areas (Hiscocks and Perrin 1991). Diurnal with daily foraging distance range from 2 to 10 km (Neal 1970, Rood 1975, 1986). Dispersal occurs via voluntary fission and eviction (Cant et al. 2013). Within groups, relatedness is high within (but not between) females and males (Cant et al. 2013). In Queen Elizabeth N. P. (Uganda) Banded Mongooses breed up to four times a year, while only one to two litter(s) per year have been recorded in drier regions (Cant and Gilchrist 2013). Mean age of first conception is 321 days and mean litter size per female at birth (all females) is estimated at 3.32 (Gilchrist et al. 2004), with a gestation period of 90 days (Cant 2000). Within groups, parturition is usually synchronous (Hodge et al. 2011). Group demography impacts female reproductive success via abortion, eviction and infanticide with younger females bearing the costs (Gilchrist 2006a, Cant et al. 2013). Fecundity and reproductive success are correlated with female age and size (Gilchrist 2006b, Nichols et al. 2012). Survival rate is low in pups (0.299) and high in adults (0.857) (Otali and Gilchrist 2004). Maximum life-span is 13 years in males and 11 years in females (Cant and Gilchrist 2013). Carrier of Leptospira interrogans, a pathogen capable of infecting humans (Jobbins et al. 2013).

Distributed widely in sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, and south to about 31° in South Africa. Although fairly widespread in southern Africa, the species appears to be rare in West Africa, and its presence in several countries in the region requires confirmation, including Benin and Niger (present according to Skinner and Chimimba 2005); and Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo (no records; Grubb et al. 1998). The relative scarcity of M. mungo in west Africa may be due to niche overlap with its congener, Gambian Mongoose (M. gambianus), endemic to west Africa and reported to occupy similar habitat and have a similar diet (Cant and Gilchrist 2013, van Rompaey and Sillero-Zubiri 2013). Its presence in Djibouti (north-east Africa) is also unconfirmed. Despite report of introduction to Zanzibar (Pakenham 1984), neither Stuart and Stuart (1998) nor Goldman and Winther-Hansen (2003) recorded this species during camera-trapping surveys, suggesting that it is either rare or absent. Recorded to 1,600 m a.s.l. in Ethiopia (Yalden et al. 1996).

Banded Mongooses are present in numerous protected areas across their wide range on the African continent.