A rare and endangered forest owlet has been sighted in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh just ahead of the arrival of the third batch of cheetahs from Africa, which an official on Friday claimed was "a significant development in the field of ornithology".

Eight cheetahs, part of an ambitious reintroduction programme after the big cats went extinct in the country nearly seven decades ago, will arrive at KNP from Botswana in the southern part of Africa on Saturday.