North American Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

Broadly distributed in U.S. and Mexico (from Nowak 1999 unless otherwise noted)

• Western North America
  • Southwestern Oregon south through California, and Baja California, Mexico
• Southwestern U.S.
  • Arizona and Nevada south and east to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas
• Mexico
  • Most of Mexico
  • Southern-most populations reach Acapulco, Jalapa, and Oaxaca

Introduced populations

• Reports north and east of Kansas; likely resulting from human transport (Zeveloff 2002)

Overlap among Bassariscus species

• B. sumichrasti found in southern-most regions of the ringtail's distribution (ITIS 2013)

Varied habitat (summarized from Nowak 1999; Poglayen-Neuwall 1990; Zeveloff 2002)

• Commonly near water (Lacy 1983; Belluomini 1983)
• Semi-arid desert, scrub
• Rock plateau and canyon
• Riparian zones
• Semi-oak forest
• Evergreen forest
• Meadows of Sacramento River in central California

Habitat Associations

• Commonly in areas with vertical rock faces (Nowak 1999; Poglayen-Neuwall 1990; Zeveloff 2002)
• Often near water (Lacy 1983; Belluomini 1983)

Altitudinal range

• 0-3000 m (0-9600 ft) (Nowak 1999; Poglayen-Neuwall 1990; Zeveloff 2002)

Adapts well to urban edges (Nowak 1999; Poglayen-Neuwall 1990; Zeveloff 2002)

Ringtail distribution.

Click on map for detailed distribution. Map credit: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, species assessors, and authors of the spatial data, via Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

Belluomini (1983)
ITIS (2013)
Lacy (1983)
Nowak (1999)
Poglayen-Neuwall (1990)
Zeveloff (2002)