Nevada mammals

Ringtail in Nevada

Bassariscus astutus

Native to Nevada S4 Apparently Secure in Nevada

Not listed as nonindigenous in Nevada by USGS NAS; native to its Nevada range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Ringtail standing on rocks at night with its black-and-white banded tail visibleBassariscus astutus flavusRingtail on a rock ledge with its long black-and-white banded tailClose-up of a ringtail's face showing large dark eyes, pale rings, and big earsRingtail crouching on a rock near cactus
Photo: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY-SA 4.0Ringtail standing on rocks at night with its black-and-white banded tail visiblePhoto: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY-SA 4.0Bassariscus astutus flavusPhoto: Brooke Smith · CC BYRingtail on a rock ledge with its long black-and-white banded tailPhoto: Urraca Fitten · CC BYClose-up of a ringtail's face showing large dark eyes, pale rings, and big earsPhoto: Warren Garst · CC BY-SA 4.0Ringtail crouching on a rock near cactus

Ringtail in Nevada, by the numbers

Occasional in Nevada 63rd most recorded of 142 mammals logged in Nevada

82 occurrence records
75 with iNaturalist photos
Jan 24, 2026 Last seen in Nevada

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Ringtail in Nevada

Most sightings fall in January.

82 Nevada occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Nevada records (table)
MonthRecords
January17
February4
March6
April4
May8
June3
July2
August10
September13
October4
November4
December7

Monthly ringtail occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Nevada, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Nevada, with recorded sightings peaking in January, with a smaller rise in September.

Occurrence map

Where Ringtail has been recorded in Nevada

82 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

82 Nevada records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Valley of Fire State Park 11
Great Basin National Park 2
La Madre Mountain Wilderness Area 1
Lake Mead National Recreation Area 1

Protected places with the most ringtail sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Nevada

CountyRecords
Clark County 70
Lincoln County 6
White Pine County 4
Nye County 1
Other localities 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 4 Nevada counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Nevada records for the ringtail are anchored by Valley of Fire State Park and Great Basin National Park. They show where people have reported it, not how many animals live there.

The Nevada records bridge the state’s southern desert country and its higher central or northern ranges. That broad spread matters more than any single hotspot. The strongest reporting falls in Nevada’s cooler months, when desert travel is easier. That’s a record pattern, not proof that the animal is more numerous then.

The file combines 75 research-grade iNaturalist records and 69 GBIF records. Those 144 records measure documented encounters, not Nevada’s population size. It’s native to Nevada. Nevada doesn’t specifically list it under the state’s conservation framework, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Ringtail in other states

Ringtail standing on rocks at night with its black-and-white banded tail visible
Full species profile Ringtail Bassariscus astutus Size 30–42 cm11.8–16.5 in Weight 0.7–1.1 kg1.5–2.5 lb Lifespan 7 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Nevada in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"