The caldera’s floor is predominantly open grassland. It is home to a diverse array of animals including elephants, black rhinoceroses, leopards, buffalo, zebras, warthogs, gnu (wildebeests), Grant’s  the densest population of lions in the world. The local Masai people also graze their livestock in the crater. Lake Magadi, a shallow soda lake ringed by extinct volcanoes, is renowned as a habitat for great flocks of pink flamingos.

Large numbers of tourists began visiting the caldera in the 1930s, when a lodge was built on its rim. Since the region’s incorporation into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in 1959, additional lodges have been built. The caldera is included within a UNESCO World Heritage site designated in 1979.