Kimba father's hide is actually alive, or at least sentient
In several scenes, the expression on its face constantly changes: Sometimes it looks angry, sometimes smiles, depending on the situation. Kimba is a bad father because he doesn't know how to be one
His father died before he was born so he never had a good male lion role model in his life. Arguably he gradually became deranged from self-imposingly playing around with his father's hide during his childhood, so it messed with his perception of what parenting should be.