 The Kerinci area is home to more than 300 bird species, including 17 of Sumatra's 20 endemic birds, making it of particular importance to ornithologists and bird-watching enthusiasts.The population of Sumatran rhinoceros in the park was estimated to number around 500 in the 1980s, but due to poaching, the Kerinci Seblat population is now considered extinct.The national park was declared in 1982, formed from numerous watershed protection forests or "hutan lindung" and small nature reserves, although its borders were only legally confirmed in the late 1990s.