Forced fights between caged animals that die in agony – this perfidious “spectacle” attracts millions of viewers to the social media channels of “Insect Wars.” In the videos published daily, insects are usually the superior animals, mutilating smaller vertebrates in combat with their sharp cutting tools or killing them with their venom. The German Animal Welfare Federation is taking legal action against these animal fights: a criminal complaint filed by the association in April 2025 for animal cruelty is officially pending with the Hamburg public prosecutor's office. The case has now been transferred to a preliminary investigation under file number 7106AR12/25 for further clarification of the perpetrators and the circumstances of the crime.
“The scenes shown have nothing to do with nature,” explains Nina Brakebusch, who works as a specialist advisor at the German Animal Welfare Federation dealing with animal cruelty on the internet. “The operators stage agonizing fights for survival with the sole aim of generating clicks, reach, and profits.”
ANIMAL CRUELTY IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA
The numerous, often bloody videos show, among other things, a dwarf hamster being attacked and eaten alive by a praying mantis, a rat being killed by a centipede, a frog being attacked by water beetles, and a young gecko being eaten alive by a cricket. The animals are crammed together under unnatural conditions, leading to fights that would not occur naturally. The perpetrators deliberately prevent the animals from escaping or avoiding the fights. The conflicts are also provoked by crowding the animals together with objects such as tweezers.
MILLIONS OF USERS FOLLOW THE CRUEL SCENES
“Insect Wars” has 1.2 million followers on Instagram, with individual clips reaching six-figure view counts – a scale that has rarely been seen before for animal cruelty content. The videos are also distributed via platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, and X. At the same time, the format promotes merchandise such as shirts, hoodies, and art prints.
According to research by the German Animal Welfare Federation, the accounts are run by an international corporation with millions in sales and a complex corporate structure. The association's criminal complaint is directed both against the as yet unknown direct perpetrators of the animal fights and against those responsible within the corporation. “The Insect Wars business model is based on massive animal cruelty. We expect the investigating authorities to take consistent action against those responsible,” says Norman Rahn, lawyer at the German Animal Welfare Federation.
