Hoffmann died on Thursday at his home in the Camargue wetlands of southeastern France, which is known for flamingos and other birds, said the Tour de Valat, a research center he founded there over a half-century ago.
No cause of death was given.
A grandson of the founder of the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche, now Roche, Lukas "Luc" Hoffmann developed an early fascination with nature. He earned a doctorate in zoology from the University of Basel, Switzerland, where he was born on January 23, 1923.