Jungle Larry at Cedar Point

In 1964 Lawrence Tetzlaff, known as “Jungle Larry,” a highly respected zoologist, opened a wild animal exhibit at Cedar Point. By 1965 Jungle Larry’s exhibit was located in the lagoon area of Cedar Point known as Safari Island.

For several years, both Jungle Larry and his wife, Safari Jane, could be seen driving this van around the Cedar Point amusement park.

Jungle Larry was very popular with the media in Northern Ohio. He appeared on the Captain Penny show and Gene Carroll’s Uncle Jake's House, local programs out of Cleveland. 

In 1966, the Sandusky Register reported on Jungle Larry’s recent rescue from quicksand while he was on safari in West Africa.  An article in the Sandusky Register of August 25, 1967 reported on Jungle Larry showing a Cleveland dentist how to clean the teeth of a tiger.

   

Lawrence Tetzlaff died on February 6, 1984 at the age of 65. A lengthy obituary in the Sandusky Register chronicled his long career as a zoologist. Robin Innes, the Cedar Point public relations manager at that time, said, “Cedar Point was Jungle Larry’s summer home for nineteen years. During that time we got to know him as an entertainer and a conservationist of the highest caliber. Jungle Larry was an institution at the park and we will miss miss him a great deal.” Members of the Tetzlaff family continued the wild animal exhibit at Cedar Point through the 1994 season.