In most of its range the Striped Hyaena occurs in open habitat or light thorn bush country in arid to semi-arid environments (Hofer 1998, Alam et al. 2014, Wagner 2013). These animals avoid open desert (such as the centre of the Arabian desert and the Sahara, though they may occur at low density in the central Saharan massifs), dense thickets and forests. Nevertheless, it was reported from Lebanon and Jordan that they inhabit thick Mediterranean oak forests (Abi-Said 2006, Qarqaz et al. 2004), and also avoid high altitudes; however, it has been recorded to 3,300 m in Pakistan (Roberts 1977), 2,700 m in the Moroccan High Atlas (Cuzin 2003), at least to 2,300 m in the Ethiopian Highlands (Yalden et al. 1996), and 2,200 m in the Lebanese mountains (Abi-Said and Marrouche Abi-Said 2007). Striped Hyaenas are sometimes found close to dense human settlements (e.g., Israel, Lebanon and Algeria). Individuals have been recorded 19 km south of Tel Aviv, 5 km east of the international airport and on the Tel Aviv-Haifa highway near Mount Carmel (Hofer 1998 and references therein), the highest density in Lebanon was recorded in an urban area 10 km north of Beirut (Abi-Said and Marrouche Abi-Said 2007), and in the suburbs of Algiers (K. de Smet pers. comm. 2007). Striped Hyaenas are unafraid of humans and frequently forage on garbage and carrion near to human habitation (Alam et al. 2014, Tourani et al. 2012, Abi-Said 2006, K. de Smet, F. Cuzin and M. Masseti pers. comm. 2014). Young animals are even kept as pets in some areas.

The Striped Hyaena has a very large, albeit now patchy distribution, extending from Africa, north of and including the Sahel, and including much of east and northeast Africa south to about central Tanzania, through the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula, Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, though not reaching Assam, Bhutan or Myanmar. They may have recently expanded into Nepal (Hofer and Mills 1998a).

Although historically present, there are few reliable recent records of occurrence in Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (Andrews 2008, Cunningham 2004, Hofer and Mills 1998a). However, recent records for Syria (Palmyra area and other Syrian governorates; Masseti 2009, A. Shehab pers. comm. 2014, G. Serra pers. comm. 2014) and Pakistan (Balochistan province, Ghalib et al. 2007) confirmed its occurrence.  Kasparek et al. (2004) discuss the recent distribution of the species in Turkey. In Lebanon (Abi-Said and Marrouche Abi-Said 2007) and Jordan (Qarqaz et al. 2004) Striped Hyaenas remain widely distributed across both countries.

Striped Hyaenas are present in numerous protected areas across their vast range. Because they exist outside of formally protected areas in regions where pastoralism is the norm and the potential for human-carnivore conflict is very high (for example, in Egypt and Kenya), particular attention should be paid to identifying ways to reduce human-carnivore conflict through promotion of methods that ensure adequate numbers of prey persist and/or methods that reduce livestock killing by all carnivores (Wagner 2013). Good domestic waste management (Yom-Tov 2003, Qarqaz et al. 2004, Abi-Said and Marrouche Abi-Said 2007, Tourani et al. 2012) and a well-designed public awareness program proved to be very successful in changing attitudes to promote conservation in some areas (Abi-Said 2006).