A 65-year-old Malaysian grandmother used magic spells and a stick to fend off a tiger which attacked her as she tapped rubber in Kelantan.

Mek Jah Ismail was mauled on the head, neck, shoulder and chest on Sunday by the tiger which had been prowling around her smallholding, the New Straits Times said.

Her neighbour Nor Fatimah Omar said the feisty mother-of-seven came running towards her, covered in blood, after surviving the attack.

"I asked her how it happened and she said a tiger just lunged out of the bushes at her," she said, adding that the tiger kept pouncing and knocking her to the ground.

Mek Jah finally managed to get to her feet, recited several prayers learned from her forefathers and picked up a stick that was lying nearby, she said.

"She hit the ground with the stick three times and this scared the animal off," Nor Fatimah told the New Straits Times.

Wildlife officials said ranger teams have been sent to the location in Kelantan and are planning to trap the animal.

Last August, a tiger attacked and killed a woman who was tapping rubber in the same area.