Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, temperate grassland and rocky areas where it lives colonially in burrows.

[3] Its habitat is arid rocky ground and it is found in mountainous regions up to an altitude of about 4,000 metres (13,000 ft).

[3] The Barbary ground squirrel is a colonial animal and lives in family groups in burrows in dry grassland, bushy and rocky areas including disturbed agricultural land, or in dens among rocks.

It feeds on plant material and a major part of its diet is the fruit and seeds of the argan tree (Argania spinosa).

[1] The population of the Barbary ground squirrel is believed to be stable and it is common over its range up to elevations of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) but is more widely dispersed at higher altitudes.