Snares that were placed along the north and south sides of the Boise River west of Glenwood Street on Oct. 27 were removed last weekend, according to state and federal wildlife officials.

“We pulled our equipment last Friday when we became confident the cat was no longer using the area,” said Todd Grimm, Idaho director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services.

Grimm said officials will check weekly to see whether there is any fresh sign that a lion is again frequenting the Greenbelt.

Though there haven’t been any recent reports of mountain lions on the Greenbelt in West Boise or the Garden City neighborhood area where a dog was mauled Oct. 18, new cougar sightings were reported this week in other parts of Boise.

A bicyclist reported seeing a cougar near the cemetery behind Fort Boise on Monday night. Other reports Monday: a cougar in the Foothills northwest of Bogus Basin Road and in the area of Warm Springs Road and the Idaho 21 bridge.

Idaho Fish & Game is investigating the sightings and looking for physical evidence of a cougar, including scat and prints. They also are looking into a report of a dead cat on the Cole Road on-ramp at Interstate 84.

Officials believe cougars follow the river and/or deer into the Treasure Valley. If they stick around too long and get habituated to city life, they must be killed.

In May, a 2-year-old female weighing 50 pounds that had been seen near Boise State University and Julia Davis Park was shot and killed. In September 2011, a male cougar of similar age and size was shot and killed in Boise’s Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center parking lot.

Katy Moeller: 377-6413