Conservation or Putting Off the Inevitable?

White rhinoceros (the 2nd biggest land Mammal) are not actually 'white'. Their name comes from 'weit', which is Afrikaans for 'wide' and refers to the shape of the animal's mouth. There is a rather sad story concerning the last 2 Northern white rhinos (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/14/northern-white-rhinos-saved-extinction-stem-cells). This is a mother/daughter combo living in Ol Pejeta Conservency in Kenya. The mother has a tumour and has difficulty moving her legs. Attempts are being made to stop what seems like the inevitable extinction of this species. Eggs were harvested from the daughter and rapidly flown to a European location. They were fertilised in vitro by sperm (collected from a male who died in 2014). A cryogenically-preserved embryo will later be implanted into each of the females. Other embryos will be given to surrogate Southern white rhinocercos (they are closely related) mothers. Even if the process works (in terms of resulting in live births), the animals are likely to have very little genetic diversity. This will make coping with any environmental challenges very difficult. Rhinos are also social animals and strains might be put on their early development. It would have been better (I think) to direct the finance, used in this process, to preserving natural locations, where animals with a better chance survival currently live. There is conservation and there is futility?