A savanna species with wide habitat tolerance. Occurs in moist and dry savanna, also ranging into desert, arid rocky areas, and riparian strips. Essentially a cave-roosting species but also roosts during the day in mine adits, aardvark holes, rock crevices, culverts under roads, roofs and hollow trees, typically in open savanna woodland (Smithers and Labao Tello 1976, Skinner and Smithers 1990, Taylor 1998).

Broadly distributed across savanna and riparian zones. It is mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa; it can also be found in Morocco, Libya, Egypt (primarily down the Nile River valley, but also into Sinai) and the Middle East (Israel, Palestine and Jordan). Elevation ranges from sea level to 2,000 m.

May occur within some protected areas. No specific conservation measures are known.

Protection of the roost sites is required and also legal protection of the species should be improved. Further research is required on the population size and trends.