This species is listed as Near Threatened on the basis that this species is known from three widely-separated locations, and is expected to be reliant on the dung of elephants which are now scarce or absent from much of this area. Continuing or recent historical pressure on elephant populations in Angola may represent a continuing decline in the quality of this species' habitat, and it is possible that it survives only in the Caprivi Strip. It is, however, unlikely to be at immediate risk in this area, and so is close to but does not fully qualify for listing in a threatened category applying criterion B2.

This species has been recorded only from southeast Angola and the Ovamboland region of northern Namibia (Davis et al. 2020). It is known from only a small number of localities (Davis et al. 2020 report habitat information for four records, from three known localities) but the wide distribution of moist deep sands in this region, and large extent of occurrence estimated from the known localities, suggest that the species' distribution is more extensive and that it is either undersampled or has been lost from much of this area, probably both. The latter is an inference from its apparent association with elephant dung. Although Davis et al. (2020) caution that "meagre" available collection data are insufficient to conclude that the beetle depends on this resource, all known records are from monogastric herbivore dung with the type series recorded in four different parts of Bicuar National Park only from elephant or zebra dung (A. Davis pers. comm. 2023).

This species was described from a series of 14 specimens all collected on elephant or zebra dung in Bicuar National Park in 1974 (Davis et al. 2020), where it was not uncommon (Davis 2013). In Namibia it is known from only three specimens from two localities, taken in 1977 and 2004 (A. Davis pers. comm. 2023). Elephants are believed to have declined in the Bicuar area, and by 2007 it was thought they may have been lost from Bicuar (Davis et al. 2020). Reports since 2013 suggest that either a remnant population survived or elephants have now recolonised Bicuar, but there is no information on the current status of the species in this area. If, as suspected, this species is largely dependent on elephant dung it is likely to have undergone at least historical declines in both Angola and Namibia and declines may be ongoing (Davis et al. 2020).

This tunnelling species has been recorded primarily from elephant dung on deep sands (Australian CSIRO 1970-1986, unpublished records, Davis et al. 2020).

It was recorded only within the Angolan Mopane woodlands (AT0702), Zambezian Baikiaea Woodlands (AT0726) and Angolan Miombo woodlands ecoregions (AT0701) of Olson et al. (2001) (Davis 2013, Davis et al. 2020).

Characteristics of the three locality records are: elevation 952-1,207 m; mean annual rainfall 473-813 mm; and mean annual temperature 21.4-23.0 °C (Davis et al. 2020)

The major possible threat to this species has been the regional reduction in the range and size of elephant populations, which has occurred in both Nambia and (reportedly) in Angola, particularly during the Angolan civil war between 1975 and 2002. Until recently, there was little information on the status of elephants in southeast Angola, let alone in this species' type locality of Bicuari National Park (now Bicuar), which is an IUCN Category II conservation area (African Conservation Foundation 2008). In 2004, crop raiding by an elephant herd was reported at Capembe (14°24’S 16°17’E) on the Cubango River, some 80 km to the northeast of the reserve (Blanc et al. 2007). However, in 2006 an estimated countrywide population of only 818 animals was reported, mostly based on dung counts. An assessment for the African elephant indicated that its presence in the Bicuar reserve and surrounding areas was only “possible” (Blanc et al. 2007). Although an elephant population has since been confirmed from Bicuar (The African Wildlife Trust 2013) it is unclear whether this species survived throughout the intervening period or has recolonised the area. It is unknown whether there have been any impacts on Platyonitis bicuariensis as a result of elephant declines or the possible local extinction in Bicuar. Davis et al. (2020) describe the occurrence of elephants in Namibian Ovamboland as "only possible or occasional" following declines summarised by Martin (2005), although elephants survive in a number of reserves in the Caprivi Strip two of which encompass records of P. bicuarensis (Martin 2005, A. Davis pers. comm. 2023). It is unclear whether either species is likely to survive near Ochivelo, one of the known Namibian localities (A. Davis pers. comm. 2023).

There is no use or trade information available for this species.

There are no species-specific conservation actions in place, but protection is urgently needed, which might be achieved through the conservation of elephant populations that remain extant on the moist western deep sands of northern Namibia and southern Angola. A survey for this species as well as for elephants in its type locality of Bicuar National Park in Angola is recommended as a starting point to increase available data on range and population status of both species, particularly as a project funded by Spain to rehabilitate Bicuar was announced in 2008. Secondly, a survey around the Ochivelo in northern Namibia is also recommended as this lies outside of the eastern border of Etosha National Park along a past seasonal migratory route in a large area where elephants are only “possibly” still present (Blanc et al. 2007), and the effects of any interactions between humans and any extant elephant population in this area (Davis et al. 2020). Research is needed to determine this species' ecological requirements and to confirm whether it is genuinely reliant on elephant dung (Davis et al. 2020).