How do you get famous enough as a porcupine to warrant an obituary?

"Prehensile-tailed porcupine, father of four, dies at National Zoo" (WaPo):

An animal who died this week at Washington’s National Zoo seemed noteworthy for many reasons, including his place in porcupine propagation.... [With a female prehensile-tailed porcupine, he] produced four youngsters.

"Many reasons"? But no other accomplishment is mentioned! There's some snide talk about how it must be difficult for quilled animals to have sexual intercourse, so I'm left thinking this is here just to do some weird sex talk (giving off a faintly rape-y whiff):

With their covering of sharp quills, porcupines prompt curiosity about their means of mating. In response to “How do porcupines breed?” wags and wits sometimes reply: “Very carefully.”

It does seem an intricate process, in which specialists say quills of the female are made to temporarily lie flat.

made to temporarily lie flat...

And now Clark — that's his name — has been made to lie permanently flat.