Are zoos ethical in the modern age?

Predators born in zoos are likely to die if released

Question: Are zoos ethical in the modern age?
Position1 of 2›: Yes, zoos are bad
Argument‹7 of 7: Predators born in zoos are likely to die if released

Predatory animals born in captivity are unlikely to survive if released into their natural habitat.

The argument

Some zoos have attempted to have release programs instated, but they are most likely to fail, ending with the animal dying. Predators especially are most likely to die if released into the wild because they never learn predatory skills. Carnivores only have a 33 percent chance of surviving in the wild. They usually have little fear for other large carnivores and they fail socially. Most efforts to introduce predators into the wild have ended with the animal dying shortly after. Therefore, carnivores born in zoos will have to remain in captivity in order to survive.

Premises

[P1]Zoo release programs for predators are most likely to fail because captive-born carnivores never learn predatory skills, giving them only a 33% chance of surviving in the wild. [P2] Such animals also lack fear of other large carnivores and fail socially, so most reintroduction efforts end with the animal's death soon after. [C] Therefore, because captive-born predators are likely to die if released, this counts among the reasons zoos are bad.

Counter-arguments

Some predators survive after being released into the wild. Zoos can prepare animals for the wild by mimicking their natural habitat. Some cases of released animals are successful, therefore it is possible for predators to survive after being in captivity.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The 33% figure is given with no source and no comparison to survival among wild-born young carnivores, which is itself low; without that baseline the number does not show that captive rearing is the cause. [Rejecting P2] What follows is that release programmes for predators need better preparation — which the counter says some zoos provide, with successful cases — and an argument about what happens on release is a reason about reintroduction policy rather than about whether zoos should exist.