This species occurs in hilly, arid, Altiplano habitat at over 3,700 m asl. It inhabits rocky terrain, building burrows in shale outcrops and at the bases of shrubs (Braun and Mares 2002). It is found in both undisturbed and disturbed areas, and readily inhabits man made stone walls. It is a strict herbivore (Cortes et al., 2002) and predominantly feeds on Thola spp. and Yareta spp. (N. Bernal pers. comm.). They will readily eat flowers and branch tips of common shrubs, lepidophyllum rigidum, L. quadrangulare, Baccharis microphylla (Patton and Emmons 2015). The shrub Baccharis tola is the main plant consumed in Parque Nacional Llullaillaco (Tirado et al. 2012) with bunch grass Stipa chryosphylla of secondary importance (Patton and Emmons 2015).

Distributed throughout high Andes (above 3,700 m) from Arequipa in Southern Peru, south through Bolivia, northwestern Argentina (Catamarca), and northeastern Chile (Antofagasta & Tarapaca) (Patton and Emmons 2015). Occurs throughout national parks in the region. 

 

It occurs in at least ten protected areas in Bolivia, including Los Andes and Pozuelo. These protected areas encompass much of its highland range.