John Fletcher is a leading vet
specialising in the management of deer, their
diseases and physiology, and the history of
human relations with deer especially within
deer parks from prehistory to the present.
I have played a crucial role in the development of deer farming in the United Kingdom and Europe, liaising with the British Government and leading New Zealand deer farmers.
I have contributed papers to a wide variety of learned and popular journals and am frequently called upon to act as an expert witness in litigation. I have written several highly acclaimed books about my own life and about deer and their role in human history and I have also participated in over one hundred radio and television broadcasts including most recently Rambling on Radio Four with Clare Balding available to listen again on BBC Sounds. I continue to lecture widely.
In 2009 I gave away a kidney to a stranger – something which has made me very happy. Finally a vital part of my life has been our French holiday tower which we bought about twenty years ago. We let it on a weekly basis but we also love to spend time there, especially in the winter when we write our books.
This was only possible with the support of my jeweller
and food writer wife, Nichola.
Altruistic Kidney Donation
In March 2009 I became the first man in Scotland to take advantage of the new Human Tissue Act when I donated a kidney to a stranger. I have been a trustee of the charity Give a Kidney charity whose objective is to raise awareness that it is feasible for most of us to give a kidney and contribute to saving a life. We believe that if everyone was aware of this possibility then enough people are sufficiently generous that we could prevent anyone dying waiting for a kidney – at the moment at least one person dies daily waiting for a kidney.
Visitors to NHS Scotland hospitals may have seen this poster of me that helped to promote organ donations.
My story was recently mentioned on the BBC Today Program - listen here >
I have contributed many chapters in books in as diverse subjects as deer management and handling, game meat hygiene, the history of Chillingham cattle, the evolution of domesticated animals and the impact of hunting on European woodlands from medieval to modern.
I am very proud to be the first man in Scotland to have donated a kidney to a stranger and this too has attracted media attention. By raising awareness that this procedure is possible for most of us I hope to help Scotland become the first country in the world where no one need die waiting for a kidney – at the moment more than one person a day is dying while waiting.
I graduated from Glasgow University Veterinary School and subsequently worked under the remarkable supervisor Roger Short for my PhD from Cambridge University. This was for work carried out on the Isle of Rum on wild and tame red deer. My work led to a greater understanding of male and female hormones which was little understood at the time.
In my book, A Life for Deer, I describe the trials and tribulations of establishing the first commercial deer farm in Europe at Reediehill in Auchtermuchty. In the 1970s and 80s, this was done in the absence of any agricultural support at a time when other livestock farming was heavily subsidised. This was only possible with the support of my jeweller and food writer wife, Nichola. Together, we developed the very successful venison enterprise Fletchers of Auchtermuchty – Seriously Good Venison. This small business was a pioneer developing the farmed venison market and in supplying mail order fresh venison, winning many awards and plaudits over the years. Edinburgh foodies who attended the first twelve years of the Edinburgh Farmers Market will remember me on our stand there. Eventually in 2012 we sold our business to our manager. We were also responsible for the establishment of the Scottish Deer Centre, a retail and tourism venture near Cupar in Fife.
I worked for several years locating, buying and exporting deer from Europe to New Zealand on behalf of Dalgety, and from Reediehill we have exported red deer breeding stock to USA, Canada, the Far East, New Zealand and almost all countries in Europe. In 1990 Reediehill was awarded the Queen’s Award for Export following the establishment of deer farms in Japan. Among many private and commercial landowners around the world, clients have included the British Royal Parks and Crown Estates, the Duke and Duchess of Argyll and the President of the United Arab Emirates.
I am very proud to have been elected an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and also a fellow of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.
I was instrumental in setting up the Federation of European Deer Farmers’ Associations and became its chairman. I was also the founder president of the British Deer Veterinary Association (formerly Veterinary Deer Society) and the founder vice chairman of the British Deer Farmers’ Association, becoming its chairman for several terms. I have been a trustee of the Chillingham Wild Cattle Association from 2001 to 2019 and conducted a programme to harvest embryos from Chillingham cattle for which I was awarded the Marsh Award for Conservation in Genetic Biodiversity through the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. I contributed a chapter to the book ‘Chillingham – its cattle, castle and church’ edited by Paul Bahn and Vera Mutimer with a foreword by HRH the Prince of Wales.
I am a trustee of the extraordinary and world renowned Sharmanka kinetic theatre company in Glasgow created by the Russian sculptor Edouard Bersudsky.
I was a friend of the late sculptor and furniture maker Tim Stead, and have many of his pieces including the first chair he ever sold. I also contributed a chapter to the book ‘With the Grain – an appreciation of Tim Stead’ edited by Giles Sutherland and with a foreword by HRH the Prince of Wales.
For several decades I gave an annual lecture to the Glasgow University Vet School, and to the Royal Veterinary College MSc a course on Wild Animal Health at Woburn. I have also lectured in Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia and throughout Europe. I am also invited to speak to general interest groups throughout the country.
I was active as a vet during the 2001 Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in southern Scotland and northern England and described this in my book, Fletcher’s Game, a later edition of A Life for Deer. As well as all this, I am a keen planter of trees. When we moved to our farm in 1973 there were only twenty-five trees on it. Now there are around fifty thousand and counting. My special interest is in all the varieties of sorbus (rowan) which I grow from seed.