Portrait of an elgopod

This is the restored version of the old 'The head of an elgopod', which you can find elsewhere in my gallery. I decided to use soft shading to make the portrait more real-looking. It was a pain to draw all that fur, but also a fun exercise. I have never drawn “realistic” fur before.
I choose to make the background grayish and blurry, because I couldn’t come up with a fitting landscape.
I think the fur went a bit too thick in some places. Well… I can blame on that it has it’s winter fur on.

What IS an elgopod, you wonder? Well, this is the story:

"The elgopods are big, herbivorous mammals that live in the outskirts of the old and mile-wide T’matorii Forests. They are big as African elephants, and can be mistaken for big reptiles, because of their long bodies and tails covered with bone armor. There are two kinds of elgopods: the longhaired northern elgopod, and the smaller southern elgopod that has shorter hair and is more adapted to warmer and dryer climates (the elgopod in the picture is of the northern race).
They live in herds with a dominant male and female in the lead. When on the move, the female leads the way and the male is taking the place furthest back in the lead to prevent any stragglers. If predators threaten the herd, the elgopods forms a circle with their heads outward, so the calves is protected from harm in the center.
The elgopod is able to tame, but only a single small ethnic group has got the traditional rights to carry on breeding and taming of this huge beast. The people are using them for heavy transports, forestry and other useful duties, but they are most known for their dreadful use of them in war. The animals serve as living tanks that will crush into the enemy and shatter the enemy’s coordination (trust me, you don’t want to stand in a bolting elgopod's way), and in that way gain advantage."

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2B, 4B and HB graphite pencils on A4 drawing paper.