The life cycle of the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis primarily involves canids and small mammals(rodents, lagomorphs) as definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively. Several surveys have identifiedmarked temporal and geographical variations at different scales in the parasite’s prevalence in both typesof hosts, suggesting variations in the biological and ecological factors that control transmission processes.The parasite transmission from intermediate to definitive hosts is determined by the predator–prey rela-tionship, which theoretically depends on prey population dynamics and the complex dietary responseof predators to varying densities of prey species and other food items. Parasite eggs are transmitted tointermediate hosts via carnivore faeces, whose distribution in the environment is driven by the defecat-ing behaviour of final hosts. We reviewed field-based studies that address issues related to the trophicecology and behaviour of definitive hosts, interactions between definitive and intermediate hosts, andE. multilocularis transmission both in wild and domestic animals in rural and urban environments. Twodensity-dependent mechanisms control the transmission dynamics in definitive hosts: one is based onthe variations in the availability of intermediate hosts, and the other is based on the variations in the den-sity of the definitive host and its faeces. Non-linearity and the direct and delayed responses of definitivehost contamination in relation to intermediate host population variations were recorded. The dietaryresponse of the red fox was shown to be complex when abundant alternative resources were available(anthropogenic food, multiple intermediate host prey species). Micro-local hotspots of parasite trans-mission to intermediate hosts in a landscape, as well as areas of higher risk for human contaminationin village and urban settings, may be explained by the definitive hosts’ activity patterns and defecationbehaviour.