The species occurs in a wide range from tropical forests, from sea level to 1,200 meters (Nowak 2005), to grasslands and even cultivated areas, although not in great numbers (de la Rosa and Nocke 2000). The diet includes small mammals, birds and their eggs, lizards, amphibians and fruits (Nowak 2005). Confirmed records of the species are scarce across its distribution therefore not current accurate estimates of its distribution are available.

Galictis vittata occurs at lower elevations from eastern Mexico south throughout Central America into South America as far south as Bolivia, northern Argentina, and Santa Catarina, Brazil. Its geographic range was estimated as 13,083,600 km² (Arita et al. 1990).

In Costa Rica, it is considered endangered (Timm et al. 1989) and is listed on CITES Appendix III (Fuller et al. 1987). In Belize it is protected by the Wildlife Protection Act, and in Nicaragua it is protected from hunting (Fuller et al. 1987).