Angul: The state forest department on Sunday ruled out moving the alleged man-eating tiger from the Satkosia Tiger Reserve and said if it was proved that the tigress indeed killed the woman at Hatibari village on September 11, the animal "will be tranquillised and relocated in the reserve's core area".

Additional chief conservator of forests (Angul circle) Sudarshan Panda said: "It is not yet certain that the tigress, Sundari, killed the woman. The post-mortem report is still awaited."

The tigress, which was earlier sighted at Bipradiha village, is now wandering in the Hatibari reserve forest.

"There is no question of translocating the tigress back to Madhya Pradesh. If need be, it will be relocated to the core area of the reserve, away from human habitation areas," Panda said.

"But the decision has to be taken by experts of the Wildife Institute of India. An institute team is studying its behaviour already. It will suggest whether she will be tranquillised or not."

The team, led by D.R. Ramesh, arrived from Deradun on Saturday and is camping at Bipradiha village. Another team from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and an official team from the state crime branch are investigating the death of the woman at Hatibari village three days ago. The two teams have already had a meeting with the district collector and the superintendent of police.

Sundari allegedly killed 35-year-old Kailashi Soya, who had gone to a nearby nullah, on Wednesday.

Panda also said the mystery surrounding the death of Soya continued. He said the irate mod that went on a rampage on the day Soya was allegedly killed caused loss of properties at tourist spots in Tikarpara.

"It was a setback to the tourism industry and will have a negative impact on ecotourism at Satkosia," he said.