Spotted Linsang has been recorded in lowland, hill and mountain forest, bamboo forest, secondary growth, dense grassland and along rivers (Pham-chong-Ahn 1980, Van Rompaey 1995, Tizard 2002, Chutipong et al. 2014, Gray et al. 2014, Jennings and Veron 2015). All South-east Asian records known to J.W. Duckworth (pers. comm. 2014) with precise locality come from evergreen biomes, in or near forest (albeit sometimes highly degraded), and always, or nearly so, in or near hills and mountains. Given the bias of survey effort in non-Sundaic South-east Asia towards less degraded, less fragmented, forest at the expense of heavily encroached areas, let alone non-forest habitats, the number of records from edge and highly degraded forest is startlingly high: it suggests the possibility that, as suggested by Lim (1973) for the allied Banded Linsang Prionodon linsang, Spotted Linsang might be more common in edge and degraded forest. A series of records from Nepal (Sunquist 1982) came from a mosaic of lowland riverine forest, tall dense grassland and deciduous Sal Shorea robusta forest interspersed with dense grasses. This contrasts strikingly with the lack of South-east Asian records from deciduous biomes. It seems to require some forest in the landscape, evidently being absent from, for example, coastal Guangdong and Hong Kong where only the few most tolerant small carnivore species, such as Masked Palm Civet Paguma larvata and Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah survive (Bosco P. L. Chan pers. comm. 2015).

It is partly arboreal but the extent is unclear. The many recent camera-trap records from ground-level cameras indicate that much activity is on the ground. Similarly, all direct sightings known to J.W. Duckworth (pers. comm. 2014) of animals moving about are on or near the ground; those of animals above the understorey seemed to be of resting individuals. Similarly, based on captive observations, Kuznetzov and Baranauskas (1993) suggested that it mainly inhabits the lower shrub layer. It is clearly not arboreal to anything like the same extent as the sympatric Small-toothed Palm Civet Arctogalidia trivirgata. It preys mostly on small vertebrates (Hodgson 1847, Lekagul and McNeely 1977, Pham-chong-Ahn 1980, Van Rompaey 1995) but has also been observed feeding at a kill of a Tiger Panthera tigris, indicating that it is an opportunistic scavenger (Sunquist 1982).

Each litter consists of two young (Lekagul and McNeely 1977), twice a year, breeding in February and August (Hodgson 1847).

Spotted Linsang inhabits most of non-Sundaic South-east Asia, southern China (western Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Xizang, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi provinces), Bhutan, North-east India and Nepal (west to the central region). In Myanmar it has been recorded south to Magway, at 20˚08′N; in Thailand south to Ta Phraya and Pang Sida National Parks, both at about 14°07′N; latitudinally throughout Lao PDR; in Cambodia south to Kirirom National Park at about 11˚18′N; and in Viet Nam, its southern extent is unclear. The species has a confirmed wide distribution in southern China, North-east India, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Vietnam, but in Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand and Cambodia it is so far known from only a few localities (Sunquist 1982, Van Rompaey 1995, Walston 2001, Roberton 2007, Than Zaw et al. 2008, Gyeltshen 2010, Lau et al. 2010, Mahar and Kaul 2012, Choudhury 2013, Willcox et al. 2014: Table SOM3, Chutipong et al. 2014, Gray et al. 2014, Jennings and Veron 2015, J.W. Duckworth pers. comm. 2014). As of late 2014, there are no records from Bangladesh (Hasan Rahman pers comm. 2014), although it seems likely to occur in the evergreen forests of the north-east.

Van Rompaey (1995) gave an elevational range from 150 m (in Nepal) to 2,700 m (in Myanmar). There are, however, several specimens with recorded altitudes considerably higher, up to nearly 4,000 m (in Sikkim; Pocock 1939); presumably because of the risk that these were locations not where the animal originated, the highest altitude Choudhury (2013) accepted for India was 2,700 m. A recent camera-trap record from Gaoligongshan, Yunnan, China, validates occurrence up to 3,308 m (Bosco P.L. Chan pers. comm. 2015).

Spotted Linsang is listed on CITES Appendix I, and in Category II of the China Wildlife Protection Law (1988) (Li et al. 2000). It is totally protected in Myanmar, on the list of protected species in Nepal, and protected in Thailand (by the Wild Animals Reservation and Protection Act [WARPA] of 2003), Viet Nam and India (Van Rompaey 1995, Than Zaw et al. 2008, Chutipong et al. 2014). It is categorised as nationally ‘Endangered’ on the Nepal Red List (Jnawali et al. 2011). There are recent records from many protected areas (Duckworth 1997, Walston 2001, Roberton 2007, Than Zaw et al. 2008, Gyeltshen 2010, Lau et al. 2010, Mahar and Kaul 2012, Choudhury 2013, Chutipong et al. 2014, Gray et al. 2014, J.W. Duckworth pers. comm. 2014, Jennings and Veron 2015). A good proportion (over 15%, as assessed by Jennings and Veron 2015) of habitat assessed as suitable  in its large range is already within declared protected areas, indicating a low degree of short-term risk. However, many of these protected areas have little long-term security, forest conversion is occurring in many, and if this continues into the longer term, then the species might become threatened through habitat loss. Although not a priority species of mammal for research in South-east Asia, a better understanding of natural history (particularly those facets that would help in the interpretation of survey results for local status assessment) would improve confidence in assessing its global conservation status.