The species is primarily found in dense coniferous forests but can tolerate other types of forests. It feeds on small rodents, voles, squirrels, pikas, doves and berries, nuts and insects also play a role in nutrition.

The Sable is of marginal occurrence in Europe, where native populations are found only in the Ural Mountains. Ruiz-González et al. (2013) analysed the genetic diversity of Martes martes throughout Europe and found that Fennoscandian-Russian mtDNA lineage consisted of haplotypes from M. martes and M. zibellina. Martes zibellina is not naturally distributed in Finland and is maintained in fur farms (Monakhov 2011). However, based on confirmed findings of M. zibellina in Finland, Partanen et al. (2020) assumed that as a result of repeated escapes of Sables from fur farms on the Karelian Isthmus (northwestern Russia), a viable Sable population has been formed in the border areas of Russia and Finland.

It occurs in Eurasia, from the European northeast (western foothills of the Ural Mountains) throughout Siberia, eastern Kazakhstan, northern Mongolia and northeastern China to the Pacific Ocean, including Kamchatka, Russian Far East and Korean Peninsula. It also occurs in Sakhalin, Kunashir, Iturup, Hokkaido and Bolshoi Shantar islands.

Studies are needed on the effects of hunting on this species, in order to develop methods to control its populations and use them commercially without decreasing annual population growth (Monakhov 2001).