A woman saved her husband's life by poking the wild animal in the eye using a pen as two mountain lions attacked the couple in a California state park.

Jim and Nell Hamm, who will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next month, were in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park when the cougar pounced, wildlife officials yesterday said.

"I turned around, and by then the cat had wrestled Jim to the ground," Nell Hamm said in an interview from the hospital.

Nell Hamm, 65, said she grabbed a thick tree branch and beat the animal with it, but it wouldn't let go of her husband's head. Then she got the pen out of her pocket and jabbed one animal in the eye. When the pen bent and became useless, Hamm went back to using the log. The cougar eventually let go. The woman screamed and waved the log until the animal walked away.

"She saved his life, there is no doubt about it," said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game.

Jim Hamm was in fair condition and recovering from a torn scalp, puncture wounds and other injuries.

After the attack, game wardens released hounds to track the cat. One lion, a female, was shot with a rifle Wednesday night. The other, a male, was killed Thursday morning, said Rick Banko, a Fish and Game warden. Officials believe the lions were relatively young.

The Thursday attack was the 16th mountain lion attack reported to the state since 1890. Last time, three people were injured, one of them fatally, in separate incidents in Orange and Tulare counties in 2004, AP reports.