Sexual dimorphism - where males and females of a species are a different size or shape - can result from male-male competition and/or female selection. Either way, it can result in huge adornments that seem a burden to the bearer - think of a peacock's tail or an elk's antlers or certain species of antelope, where males carry a huge weight on their head with little function when not fighting other males other than perhaps scratching an itch on his rump.
This splendid Greater Kudu bull's huge spiral horns may raise his social status by giving him an advantage in battles with smaller horned males, and it seems that females find him more attractive. Unfortunately it also makes him attractive to trophy hunters, who covet the horns of Tragelaphus strepsiceros to raise their own social status among their peers. The 19th century 'sport' hunter's quest for the 'record bag' of each species lingers on even today. Ironically, though, the killing of trophy bulls removes the biggest and potentially most successful breeding males from the population, effectively imposing a selective pressure against the very features that are most admired by trophy hunters, photographers and female kudus alike. This provides a strong biological argument for photographic safaris over trophy hunting, whatever your views on the ethics of killing healthy animals for fun.
Fortunately this kudu lives in Chobe National Park in Botswana where he is safe to pass on his genes to the next generation. He also makes the 61st daily video to #BrightenYourDay and bring #nature into your #Covid19 #lockdown - enjoy how he delicately nibbles tiny leaves using lips and teeth under the admiring gaze of the female beyond.