The park is home to endangered Bornean orangutan and seven other primate species: Müller's Bornean gibbon, white-fronted surili, maroon leaf monkey, southern pig-tailed macaque, crab-eating macaque, Sunda slow loris and Horsfield's tarsier.

[6] They live from hunting, collecting non-timber forest products and subsistence farming based on a pattern of shifting cultivation.

[3] Betung Kerihun National Park was first established as a 600,000 ha nature reserve in 1982 by a Ministry of Agriculture decree.

[6] Significant threats towards the integrity of Betung Kerihun are deforestation by illegal logging and wildlife poaching.

About 10-15 orangutans were traded every month from West and Central Kalimantan forests to supply markets in Indonesia's large cities, including Jakarta and Denpasar.