A young orphaned koala has been released back into the wild at a south-east Queensland nature refuge after eight months in care.

Thurston, now aged 16 months, was found abandoned on the NRL grand final day last year and placed into the care of Cowboys fan Peter Luker, who hand-raised him.

"He's a biter — he nips — but he's always been very friendly, always likes lots of attention," Mr Luker said.

"When we had him at home, he would sit with me regularly and he would watch TV on my arm.

"This is the rewarding part — to see them go back to where they are meant to be, the wild."

Thurston is the third koala to be released at Koala Crossing, south-west of Brisbane, which was created by the not-for-profit organisation, Queensland Trust for Nature in 2014.

Organisation spokeswoman Tanya Pritchard said 80,000 trees would be planted at the site over the next two months to create a better habitat for the marsupials, which are dwindling in numbers.

"We think there's probably 10 to 20 koalas here, but we hope as we restore the property and plant more trees here that we'll be able to increase the population over time," she said.

Recent figures from the South East Queensland Koala Population Modelling Study review found that in parts of south-east Queensland more than 80 per cent of the koala population had disappeared since 1996.

In light of those findings, the Queensland Government was establishing an expert panel to explore ways to better protect the species.

Ms Pritchard said the Queensland Trust for Nature was doing what it could to help protect the animals.

"We've just recently had a very generous bequest of over 2,000 hectares close by at Grandchester and we're hoping to improve that area, which is the next grazing property for koalas as well," she said.