Onitis uncinatus has been listed as Least Concern. This savanna species is widespread across parts of southern and eastern Africa where it has been found in association with cattle dung, frequently in grasslands. Thus, conversion of savanna woodland to grassland habitat for grazing of livestock is unlikely to present a serious threat to this species. It has also been recorded from protected areas, such as uMkhuze Game Reserve and the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

This species was described from Sena, which lies on the Zambezi River on the coastal plain of central Mozambique (Klug 1855). It is widespread from southern to East Africa. It has also been recorded from one published but untraceable locality in northeast Africa (Ethiopia) (Ferreira 1978), and its occurrence in this country has consequently not been validated (A. Davis pers. comm. 2023). Unvalidated reports also exist from Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda (A. Davis pers. comm. 2023). It is frequently recorded in unmodified farmland in dryer lowland and highland savanna woodland in southern Africa (Australian CSIRO 1970-1986, unpublished records). Closer to the equator in East Africa, it has been recorded from the coastline up to over 2,000 m (Australian CSIRO, 1970-1986, unpublished records). Some disjunctions in its range result from unsuitable climate and soil types, although in some areas these may be artefacts of under-collection, especially in eastern parts of southern central Africa.

Field observations suggest that a high local population density is maintained in parts of its range (Australian CSIRO 1970-1986, unpublished collection records).

Qualitative collection records are occasionally taken from sand but primarily from finer-grained sandy loam, sandy clay loam, and clay soils in arid to dry open savanna woodland with a lower occurrence in grassland and pasture (Australian CSIRO 1970-1986, unpublished records, Davis et al. 2020). Most records are from cattle dung, although some were taken at light, collected from wildebeest, buffalo, or elephant dung, or trapped to a mixture of human and cattle dung (Australian CSIRO 1970-1986, unpublished records). In the bushveld just to the northeast of Tshwane / Pretoria in South Africa, this moderately-sized, dusk-flying, tunnelling species was trapped with cattle dung baits and showed an extreme bias to finer-grained soils (total 138 individuals trapped, none on deep sand) where it was most abundant in open woodland (total 73), but also showed a strong presence in grassland (total 47) and limited occurrence in shaded thickets (total 18) (Davis 1996). In Mkuzi Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a total of 22 individuals were trapped, specifically with composite baits of pig, horse and cattle dung (Doube 1991). Here, its soil associations were not quite so extreme even though it was again absent from deep sand. However, it did occur on duplex soils of sand overlying clay (0.9 per trap), as well as sandy clay loam (0.8 per trap), and clay (0.4 per trap) mainly in open vegetation (77%).

Collection records of this species are clustered primarily in upland or moist coastal parts of ecoregions where there are finer-grained soils. At the arid extreme in southern Africa, it occurs in highland parts of the Angolan mopane woodlands (AT0702), Namibian Savanna woodlands (AT 1316) and northern and southern parts of the Kalahari Xeric savanna (AT 1309). In more mesic climates of southern Africa, it is also widespread in Southern African Bushveld (AT 0717), Southern Miombo Woodlands (AT0719), Zambezian and mopane woodlands (AT0725). In East Africa, it occurs in Northern and Southern Acacia–Commiphora bushlands (AT0711, AT0716), and Victoria Basin forest savanna mosaic (AT0714). A few peripheral localities extend into the edges of ecoregions adjacent to those listed above (ecoregions based on Olson et al. 2001).

Some environmental characteristics for 321 locality records are as follows: annual rainfall: mean: 669 ± 238 (S.D.), range: 204-1,361 mm; annual temperature: mean: 20.1 ± 2.4 (S.D.), range: 13.7-27.3^oC (max. + min. / 2). It occurs as low as sea level (Davis et al. 2020).

This species is unlikely to be under threat at present because of its widespread distribution and the great frequency of records from both farmland on cattle dung and game reserves on the dung on indigenous herbivores. As it has been shown to be most abundant in open woodland, clearance of woodland may reduce its abundance, but it is often also recorded in abundance in dry to moist grassland. Woodland clearance consequently does not constitute a serious threat at present.

Specimens of this species are offered for sale on the internet.

There are no species-specific conservation actions in place for this widespread species, nor are any needed, for this widespread species. It does receive some protection due to its occurrence in game reserves and national parks, including uMkhuze Game Reserve (GR) and the Kruger National Park (NP) in South Africa, Lake Mutirikwe GR (Zimbabwe), Gorongosa NP (Mozambique), Etosha NP (Namibia), Manyara NP (Tanzania) and Masai Mara Game Reserve (Kenya) (Davis et al. 2020).