The distribution and natural history of this species is still quite poorly known. It has only been recorded with certainty from two localities on Mount Nimba, one in lowland tropical moist forest (Grotte de Blandé), and a second in Afromontane grassland (Pierré Richaud). The bats in the Afromontane grasslands roost in the four aforementioned mine adits (Monadjem et al. 2013), and possibly in some natural cave sites that have yet to be discovered. Bats observed exiting from these adits appeared to rapidly descend the steep slopes of the mountain into rain forest which covers the lower slopes. The bats did not appear to be foraging in the higher grassy slopes (A. Monadjem and A. Dower, personal observation). The single record of a bat from Grotte de Blandé, in contrast, is from a natural cave system in low-lying rain forest. This site was also revisited and despite capturing and recording echolocation call of numerous Hipposideros cf. ruber, no H. lamottei was recorded. Furthermore, H. lamottei has not been captured on the lower slopes of Mount Nimba despite extensive surveys (Monadjem et al. 2016). This suggests that H. lamottei is highly specialized and restricted to roosting in the high altitude grasslands of Mount Nimba, possibly only occasionally flying down into the lowland forest surrounding the mountain.

This species is endemic to Africa and is known only from the Guinean side of the Mount Nimba despite extensive surveys on the Liberian side, this species has not been recorded there, possibly because of the lower altitude on the Liberian side (Monadjem et al. 2016). On Mount Nimba it has been recorded at Grotte de Blandé and Pierré Richaud in Guinea, between 500 and 1,400 m asl. Former records from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Cameroon were misidentified (see Koopman et al. 1995, Fahr, 2013, Monadjem et al. 2013). However, during a recent survey, this species was only recorded from four old mine adits at Pierre Richaud, above 1,200 m asl (Denys et al. 2013, Monadjem et al. 2013) covering an area of less than 10 km². The Grotte de Blande cave system was also revisited and despite capturing and recording echolocation calls of numerous Hipposideros cf. ruber, no H. lamottei was recorded (Monadjem et al. 2016). Furthermore, H. lamottei has not been captured on the lower slopes of Mount Nimba on the Liberian side despite extensive surveys (Monadjem et al. 2013, 2016). This suggests that H. lamottei is highly specialized and restricted to the high altitude grasslands of Mount Nimba, possibly only occasionally flying down into the lowland forest surrounding the mountain.

Although it is present within the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve World Heritage Site, its only known roosts are within an active mining concession. There is a need to enforce the protection of this area. Additional surveys are needed to learn more about the distribution, population size and trend, ecology, and threats to this species. Given the extensive mining, logging and agricultural expansion in the area it is also recommended to engage key stakeholders and work with local communities and government authorities given they have an endemic rare species in the area. Specific research is needed to understand disturbance and if protection or gating of a mine is viable.