New Zealand Long-tailed Bats are usually associated with areas of native temperate forest. The species has been recorded some distance from forest, regularly in farmland and non-native plantations, but are generally found close to remnant native forest fragments (O'Donnell 2005; Borkin et al. 2011, 2019). They are highly mobile, requiring large ranges spanning >20 km, with colony home ranges of >150 km² recorded O’Donnell (2001). They primarily roost as solitary animals or in small groups within cavities in trees (O'Donnell 2005, O’Donnell and Sedgeley 2006). Females are thought to give birth to a single young annually (O'Donnell 2002, 2005). The species is non-migratory, but highly mobile at local scales, with range widths >20 km and colony ranges ca 150 km² (O’Donnell 2001).

Long-tailed bats are aerial insectivores. They undergo periods of torpor, including during lactation, and seasonal hibernation (O’Donnell 2005).

This species is endemic to New Zealand where it has been recorded from areas of suitable habitat on North Island, South Island, and Stewart Island. It has recently become absent from the Banks Peninsula of South Island, and now also appears to be rare or absent from many sites where they were formerly common (O'Donnell 2005).

This species is protected by the New Zealand Wildlife Act of 1953. Conservation is occurring using guidance from a national Bat Recovery Plan (Molloy 1995), with ongoing assessments and annual work plans being co-ordinated by the national Bat Recovery Group (O’Donnell 2009). Conservation programmes are in place aimed at protecting roosting sites, enhancing habitat, controlling predators, and educating the public about New Zealand Long-tailed Bat (O’Donnell 2009). More information is needed regarding the population numbers and current status of the species. Predator control trials at local scales have been successful in cool rainforest in southern New Zealand (O’Donnell et al. 2017). However, predator control operations in North Island forests have yet to be successful (M. Pryde pers. comm.), likely because of higher densities of invasive ship rats in warmer forests.
The New Zealand national (non-IUCN) listing for Long-tailed Bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) is nationally critical (O’Donnell et al. 2018).